Cyniclon or Mew Mew (Redux)
by Kira-sensei
Summary: Tsuki, a Cyniclon scientist, has been sent to spy on humans by Deep Blue. While spying she uncovers the Mew Mews and ends up becoming one of them due to a freak accident. Which side will Tsuki be loyal to? What happens when she finds out she isn't the only Cyniclon sent to fight the humans? Find out! (This is a re-write/edit of the original Cyniclon or Mew Mew?)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**_ It's been 6 years since I wrote this story, 5 since I've published it. Reviewing it, my writing was terrible! So, I've decide to repost an edited/re-written version. In the first chapter I added only more explanations and thoughts. Much of the dialogue remained the same. In further chapters, I will expand more on parts that I left out and give Tsuki more time to develop relationships with all of the characters. In fact, I may change the rating later on depending on how I want the story to go. There was a lot of disconnect over time as the last two or three chapters were written during entirely different parts of my life. The first 6 chapters were written when I was 12, the others when I was 15.  
_  
_I suggest if you're reading this for the first time, __**DO NOT **__read the old story. The core of the story will remain the same and you will end spoiling this story for yourself. I will try to re-write as many chapters of this over my short Winter break as I can. For the meantime, please enjoy the re-written beginning to Tsuki's confusing tale.  
_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew or any of the characters except for Tsuki Hikaru.

Most the characters names will be in English, and I apologize to those readers who prefer the Japanese names. I watched both series at the same time until they stopped dubbing the episodes. I agree that Mew Mew Power was a butchered version of the original, and I will be following the Tokyo Mew Mew storyline as closely as I can, but I prefer the English names.

_Italics means the character is thinking_

**Introduction:**

**Name: **Tsuki Hikaru (Meaning: Moon Light)  
**Age: **Appears 13, but her actual age is probably around 80.  
**Hair: **Long, down to the backs of her knees; jet black(And short shoulder length, blonde)  
**Eyes: **Bright purple (And dark green)  
**Height:**5'1.

**Personality: **Tsuki is very secretive. She doesn't talk to many people unless they confront her or talk to her first. Tsuki has many secrets and is trying her hardest to keep them. Her culture was one where the children were raised as scholars, emotional maturity is stunted and relationships are either one's of lust or convenience. Love is hard to come-by and her study of humans is helping her slowly grasp what it means to love someone outside of your family. She loves music art, and reading. She smiles at everyone and acts like normal teenage girl, but due to the pressure of her mission, Tsuki is often stressed or in a dark mood. She is usually wearing black and white sometimes she wears colours when she's in a happy mood.

**History: **Tsuki has always waited for the day that she could come to Earth and secretly destroy the humans. After watching her people suffer on a doomed world for so many years, and watching the harsh climate steal her brother's life, she couldn't take it anymore and became a servant of Deep Blue. Tsuki soon became the best human culture and Earth expert after decades of intense study. The governing body of the Cyniclon people chose her over hundreds of others to serve one of their most powerful Generals, Deep Blue. Finally reaching her goal of coming to Earth; Tsuki had been working hard on her disguise. Her skin reddened with a touch of peach, her hair brightened to a blonde, and her eyes darkened to a stunning green. She signed up for a human school, pretending to be a young adolescent girl. The uniforms were an ugly grey, black, red and white. Though with no choice as to what human's like to wear, she reluctantly put it on and started her fake life as a human.

**Appearance (Human) out of school:** She has Blonde hair that's tied up at the back on her head in a tight bun. Her eyes are a misty green. Her shirt is a blouse with the sleeves that aren't attached and rest at her wrists. Her skort, a skirt with shorts underneath, is black with slits up the side.

**Cyniclon form:**

Tsuki has long black hair that is about to the middle of which she wears in a ponytail. And her shirt is beige with no sleeves. Her skirt is crimson and has burgundy shorts underneath. Tsuki wear long black socks and brown boots. Of course, she has large pointed ears and her eyes are purple with feline irises. Her skin is very pale, smooth and soft.

**Japanese words used:**

Onee-chan: Older sister

Nee-san: Sister

Onii-san: Older brother

Nii-chan: Brother

Gomenasai: I'm sorry

Gomen: Sorry

Ohayo Gosaimasu: Good morning

Ohayo: Morning

Konnichiwa: Good afternoon

Konbanwa: Good evening/night

Hai: Yes

Nani: What

Arigatou: Thank you

Domo arigatou gosaimasu: Thank you very much

Aishiteru: I love you

Yen(¥):Japanese currency(Money)

**Story:**

_Life and Death. Darkness and Light. Freedom and Captivity. It's the balance in life. Yin and Yang. Everybody needs it to survive. Where someone feels pain another will feel pleasure. It's how our world works. While someone lives another dies. Where someone sees darkness another sees light. When someone is free another is held captive. That is life's true balance in all._

_My home is a horrid place, while the Humans live in their wonderful home that was once ours. Do you think that's balance? Do you think this is fair? We do not. It was our home until we were forced to leave this planet by the Humans. Now we live underground on this dangerous planet we must call home. But we will not take this anymore. We're going to take back our home. And recreate the balance in our world. Bringing Earth back to its original beauty!_

I looked out the tin glass window at the top of the front door. I could hear cars honking horns up the street and children laughing as they made their way to school. Coming out of my apartment building, I wasn't sure if I was ready to go out into the human world. All my research, all of my experiments had not prepared me for this. I thought they had, I thought I could handle this. I was so wrong. This world was so vast, the people were so many. I was so utterly frightened that I could barely breathe.

_That's just it... I can BREATHE here. There's air, beautiful delicious air!_

"I've got to do this. For my home..." I said, trying to encourage myself.

I took a deep breath, sucking in a gulp of that sweet oxygen and stepped out of my apartment building and into the bright sunshine. My skin felt warm in the sunlight and I felt many of my tensed nerves relax. This was not so bad after all. If this was what my people were fighting for, just to feel the warmth of the sun on their skin, then I would do my damndest to give it to them.

I shielded my eyes and ran down the street, backpack in hand. There were all sorts of humans walking up and down the streets. Many were school children in various brightly coloured uniforms. Others were business men in dark, pressed suits with bright red power ties. I tried to avoid bumping into these people, but there were so many. Millions of people lived in Tokyo, the entire population of the second largest country in the world lived within the city limits. So of course, I did end up jabbing a few people in the ribs with my elbows or bumping them with my book bag.

_I wish our population was this large. I don't think there are even this many of us left._

After turning another corner, I saw more students wearing a uniform similar to mine. Up ahead was the middle school I would be attending, a beautiful cement building with a wonderful green courtyard and sports fields out back. When I reached this school, a smile tugged at my lips. It was a pretty nice day here, this being human thing didn't seem so difficult. Then I heard the bell, a loud annoying chiming sound. Thinking back to my studies on human education, I remembered that it was a signal to go to my classroom.

"This world...it's so weird," I muttered, running inside.

When I came into the classroom there were students, all around the same age as me, talking and sitting in flimsy looking desks. I took as seat near the window and hung my bag on the hook sticking out of the side of my desk. More students in the black, white, grey and red uniform filed in to the room. They chatted and laughed, each swapping stories about their weekends. I had to say, watching up close was very different from watching millions of light years away. Humans were fascinating creatures. Just as the last bell rang and the teacher came in, a girl with red hair ran into the room. She knocked down the teacher on her way in too. She then took a seat beside me after apologizing profusely. When the teacher stood up he glared at the girl and then walked over to his desk.

"Class, we have a new student today. Miss Hikaru please come up to the front," he stated.

I immediately blushed and got up from my seat. Both human and Cyniclon bodies function in the same manner, all of the organs and various body systems were in the same places. The only differences physically was that we had evolved to the point where we could fly and use our minds for various psychic techniques. Despite my obvious abilities over the humans, I was still frightened. Still scared out of my mind that I might screw this up.

_Calm down, Tsuki. You planned for this. Just do what you planned and everything will go great._

I looked up and smiled. "Um. Hello, my name is Tsuki Hikaru. I'm 13 and I love music, art, and reading. I recently transferred here from Canada, but my Japanese is still coherent. I hope," I said with as much confidence as I could muster.

When the class laughed at the last part and the teacher smiled, I felt relief wash over me. I had passed my first test at being a believable human.

"Well, we'll need someone to show you around. Hmmm, Zoey, how about you?" The teacher inquired, pointing at the red haired girl.

"Huh? wha? Oh, um sure!" The girl said, turning away from her friends.

"You may take your seat now, Miss Hikaru," the teacher stated in a monotone as he began to scribble on the chalkboard.

"Hai, Sensei," I replied, bowing and walking back to my seat.

As I sat down and class began, my new red-haired chaperone leaned across the aisle. She place a hand on my desk to steady herself before whispering, "Your Japanese is very good."

"Arigatou!" I answered, mimicking her whispered tone.

* * *

After class, Zoey had shown me around the school. I made notes in a small purple notebook, my log of my mission, so I would know may way around here in case I needed to come back at night. Next, she showed me the students, and so far I liked none of them. Though I found out Zoey really likes this one guy, Mark. I had always been interested in human love, but I found it all too mushy. I never understood the concept, and it was one of my favourite research topics. As Zoey went on and on about this boy I realized that I had neglected to feed myself this morning.

"Zoey, can we go and have lunch now?" I asked as my stomach grumbled.

"Oh, sure, but let's meet up with Miwa and Moe-san first." Zoey said, pulling me along.

These two girls I had met during class, and their overly optimistic and feminine attitudes bothered me. They had no interest in their education and were more intrigued by the cute guys in school. As much as I disliked their attitudes, I needed to gather as much information as I could. It was good that they thought I was merely making notes on their language and not their personalities or lives.

_Oh joy...her perky friends...Shoot me now...Maybe I can just take some quick notes and then we can move on._

She dragged me outside until we met up with Moe and Miwa right beside where the kendo team was practicing.

"Zoey, Mark's here. Are you ready?" Miwa asked.

"Yes! Ooh I wonder if he'll say yes! Do you think he will?" Zoey asked looking nervous.

"Wait, hold on a sec. What's going on?" I asked, snapping my notebook closed.

"Zoey's going to ask Mark out!" Moe said jumping up and down slightly.

"Oh..."

_A date? How dull. I need to look into more intimate and real moments. Not childish crushes. Maybe I chose the wrong setting for my work._

"So go on! He's right there!" Miwa screeched, pushing Zoey out into Mark's path.

Poor girl bumped right into him, but at least it appeared to break the ice. I have say, Mark was not bad looking. He had a sweet face and was of an attractive height and build. For my preference, he was a little bland, but for a human girl like Zoey? Perfect. After some awkward talking and over-exaggerated hand motions, I saw Mark leave and Zoey jumping up and down.

"Come on she did it! Let's go congratulate her!" demanded Moe, pulling me towards her.

We joined Zoey on the gravel path as Mark walked back towards practise. Her face was extremely red and her body was shaking. I took mental notes of her physical reactions, attributing most of it to nerves. When we approached she jumped up and down before hugging all three of us.

"I can't believe it! I'm going on a date with Mark!" Zoey said with a smile.

_Perky...Too perky...Shit, I hope I don't have to listen to this every day._

I smiled and hugged back, attempting to feign excitement. If this was the only way I was going to get lunch, I'll put up with the perkiness.

* * *

The weekend came faster than I planned. The school week was annoyingly long despite the fact that the school work was far easier than any of my studies back home. I spent most days hanging out with Zoey, trying to understand what life for her was like. We became close, she called me every night in fact, and we hung out for hours every day after school. Human friendship was fun, and I looked forward to seeing how much it was going to change as time went on. Today was actually the day of Zoey's date with Mark. With a sigh, I walked through the park in the centre of the city. Zoey liked to walk through here after school and I thought that rather than investigate somewhere new I might as well learn more about this expansive green-space. Not realizing that I wasn't the only one there, which I should've in a city so large, I bumped into somebody.

"Ouch..." I grumbled, rubbing my head while sitting on the ground.

"Oh, miss are you alright?" the guy asked.

When I looked up I saw a guy with long brown hair in a pony tail and very caring eyes. He was actually rather tall and most likely in his early twenties.

"Huh? Oh, I'll be alright." I said, blushing slightly from embarassment.

_Trying not to get noticed and what do I do? Walk into people..._

"It's not alright. You're obviously hurt." he said, looking down at my now bleeding knee.

_How'd that happen? Oh, shit, that really hurts too!_

"Come with me and I'll get that cleaned up." the guy said, picking me up bridal style.

I squirmed nervously, surprised at the man's forwardness. I came from a culture where touch was uncommon unless you knew someone well. I really needed to train myself to handle these situations better or I'd be tomato red all the time.

"Uh, no I'm fine really!" I replied, now blushing very dark.

_Okay, I've never blushed this darkly before. Except for when...Oh, I hate this planet!_

He carried me to a very pink cafe in the middle of the park. I thought it an odd place to open a business, but it was easy enough to spot. It looked like a hot pink cupcake and made me hungry. Once we were inside, I saw how cute the place looked. Heart shapes and colours human's relate to love nearly blinded me.

_Too pink! Ah, my eyes!_

The guy carried me into the kitchen and sat me down on a chair near the island counter top. I took another look at my wound and was surprised at just how much I was bleeding.

"Here," the guy said place a cold cloth on my scrap.

"Ahhh. That's really cold, er um.." I said, looking down in an attempt to recall his name.

"Oh, I never told you my name. It's Wesley," the man said with a smile.

"I'm Tsuki. Thanks for helping."

Wesley removed the wet cloth, which now had little stains of blood on it, and quickly dried my knee off with a piece of paper towel. When it was dry he put a medium size square bandage on my scrape. With the band-aid on I felt a lot better, and I was very grateful for Wesley's kindness. Humans didn't seem as ruthless as the Council always made them out to be.

"There we go. Now how would you like to try some of my new cake? As an apology," Wesley offered, opening the fridge.

My stomach growled at me and I sighed. There was no way I could refuse an Earth delight such as cake. I had to give it to the humans, their culinary skills were top notch.

"Sure that would be great," I answered.

Not only was my bloody knee against me, but so was my stomach. Thinking about where I was and how I knew so little about this man, I felt uncomfortable. I really just wanted to leave.

"Here you go! My new chocolate fudge cake! Please tell me what you think of it," he stated, putting a plate with a warm, fluffy, and very chocolaty dessert on it and a fork in front of me.

I smiled and dug my fork into it. As I put the cake in my mouth I realized that this cake was great. Actually it was fantastic! Melt in your mouth fantastic, more than I had even anticipated.

"This is delicious! Thank you!" I said, digging my fork into the cake again.

"Glad you like it."

Suddenly, I hear footsteps and another man appeared on the stairs at the other end of the kitchen. He was tall and thin with a rather tan complexion and stunning blue eyes. His hair was very short, and golden blonde. A few strands hung in his eyes making him look rather mysterious and adding to his already attractive appearance.

"Wesley, I need you in the computer room," the tan guy demanded as he walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, of course. I'll be right back alright, Tsuki?" Wesley asked as he moved towards the stairs.

"Ohkayv!" I replied with my mouth full of his cake.

While the two men disappeared upstairs, I quickly finished up my cake. This seemed quite suspicious and I might be able to learn something very interesting if I investigated. Savouring cake could wait until another time.

"Mmm. That was good. Now I wonder why this cute little cafe would have a computer room..." I said, getting up from my seat.

I quickly snuck up the back stairs and arrived at a long hallway. One of the first doors had blue light shinning from underneath and I figured that would be my best bet for the computer room. Carefully, I crept over to the door. When I opened it, I saw the blonde man and Wesley sitting in front of several computer screens.

"It's time for the Mew Mew project to start. The aliens are already here," said the blonde man.

"I just hope your father's calculations were right," Wesley replied, typing into keyboard.

I looked at the screens and saw that they were all showing pictures of Zoey standing outside the cafe. Some cameras were zoomed in and others were zoomed out. Still, they all showed my school chum standing on the grass, plain as day. Without another glance I ran down the stairs, which wasn't a smart move considering my knee, and out the door. I may have only known Zoey for a week, but I was not ready to lose her to whatever those men were planning just yet. Especially if they knew I was here!

I stumbled out of the cafe and tripped on one of the stairs, tumbling to the pavement. I landed on my injured knee and I felt the pain return.

_OW! Stupid knee! Ahhhh ow..._

"Hey, Zoey!" I called pulling myself up and dashing over to her.

I stood right in front of her making sure I was in the path of those cameras. If they wanted her, then they'd have to go through me. There was no way I was giving up a subject that I had studied this in-depth. Maybe I could convince her to leave.

"Hey, Tsuki! I didn't know you were here!" Zoey said with a smile.

"I wasn't planning on it, but maybe you and I could go han-" but I didn't get to finish my sentence because the ground started to shake.

"What's happening?" Zoey asked.

Then all of the sudden we were engulfed by a pink and purple light. I cried out in pain as the light encompassed my small frame. I shut my eyes due to agony only to open them again and see myself floating in lavender light. Standing before me was a lion cub. She was small and furry, her golden coat was shiny and beautiful. In a second or two her small form approached me, and she leaped at my body, disappearing into my abdomen.

Then darkness over came me and when I awoke, I was lying on the ground next to an unconscious Zoey. I clutched my chest for it still hurt very badly and got on my knees. I crawled over to my friend's unconscious form and placed my index and middle fingers against her neck. There was a pulse and her breathing was steady. Zoey was going to be okay, but I sure as hell couldn't stick around like this. I was weak, I was a target. Quickly, I ran off into the woods before I could be seen.

I collapsed in the woods and fell asleep. Hours passed for when I awoke again it was dark out and nobody was around. I got up and walked home clutching my side. The pain had stopped, but whatever had happened was not good. At home, my body was weak and tired, so I fell into bed and passed out.

* * *

Monday morning rolled around and I had seen Zoey in class. She appeared to be her usual chipper self. She told me over the weekend that shehad a great date with Mark, aside form the fact that she fell may not have realized it, but I knew that we had stumbled upon something very dangerous that day. This afternoon I was walking home through the park once again. It's a short-cut to my house, but this time I was avoiding the cafe. Zoey had taken a fork in the road insisting on visiting that cafe again and I wanted nothing to do with it until I could figure out what was going on.

"I can't believe they know that I'm here! Those humans are smarter than we first thought! And whatever those Mew Mews are, they're going to try and stop me, but I won't let them. I'll crush them!" I said angrily as I walked down the paved path.

All of the sudden there was a big crashing noise. Startled, I jumped at the sudden sound and ran in that direction. Getting to a clearing in the park, I was shocked to see a monster of my people's own creation.

"A predicite?! But how...?" I asked myself, looking all around.

When I looked up in the evening sky I saw Cyniclon man around my age. He had dark green hair and yellow eyes, wearing obviously Cyniclon clothing and floating as if it were normal. He was making no effort in trying to remain hidden. He was openly starting a war. Then I realized that I was the only one to notice him. Everyone else was too busy dealing with the rat monster.

"Another Cyniclon?! But I was supposed to be the only one!" I said, frustratingly going over what Deep Blue had told me the day before I left.

I then saw Zoey standing over Mark's body on the ground. How this girl had gotten herself so wrapped up in Cyniclon business was beyond me. My test subject or not, I would not dare go against my own kind. Especially if Deep Blue authorized this guy's presence and attack.

"Zoey, she's going to get destroyed. Oh, well not my problem." I muttered, watching what was going on from a far.

"Hey, you! Use this!" a voice called out.

When I looked over to the sound of the voice and into the trees I saw the same guy with blonde hair from the cafe yesterday. He threw a little golden pendant at Zoey. She took it and then out of nowhere transformed into an odd girl with pink hair and eyes in a pink skirt and top. She even had a cat tail and ears. Just what in the universe was I witnessing?

Then with a smirk she said, "Mew Mew Style, Mew Mew Grace, Mew Mew Power In your face!"

_Oh, you've got to be kidding me... Is this some super hero nonsense from a human comic book?_

With a pink bell in her hand she waved it around and shouted, "Strawberry bell full power!"

_Yep, super hero nonsense. But wait, Zoey's a...Mew Mew? That's what a Mew Mew is?_

In mere seconds there was nothing left of the predicite. Super hero nonsense aside, she was powerful. More powerful than any Cyniclon had ever predicted. I had studied humans for years but this goes way beyond my research.

"Hm...you'll pay for that. See ya later, kitty-kat!" the male Cyniclon murmured before warping away. I doubt anyone heard him but me.

I saw red. I was so angry that I hadn't been told there was going to be another on this mission and also infuriated that the humans knew we were here. I quickly stalked off fuming. When I was in a thickly forested part of the park I sat down and began to collect my thoughts. If I went at Deep Blue angry I could end up in a lot of trouble.

_Why wouldn't he tell me?! I deserve to know! Oh I'm going to talk to Deep Blue tonight and give him a piece of my min-_

But my thoughts were cut off by a voice, "Hmm what's the trouble? You look angry."

I opened my eyes and saw that the same Cyniclon boy from before was now floating in front of me. I had to say, by my people's standards he was very good looking. Unfortunately, I was too angry to really care at this point.

"None of your business! Now leave me alone!" I shouted, glaring at him.

"Hm, fiery. You'd make a great Predicite," the guy murmured with a smirk.

My eyes widened.

_Is he really going to...? Can't he sense that I'm not human?!_

Then he raised his hand in front my chest. I felt an icy hand digging around within me, invisible but still painful. It latched onto my soul and started to pull, dragging away my life force. The power from this interaction lifted me off my feet, hovering me just above the man.

"No...No!" I cried, snapping my fingers. Instantly, I transformed into my original Cyniclon form.

Immediately, my fellow Cyniclon stopped and I fell to the ground. The icy pull dissipated and I felt whole again.

"You're a...a..." he started but I finished.

"A Cyniclon? Yes, of course am! I would've screamed 'Ah, ALIEN!' when you first startled me if I were human, you jerk!"

"But why were you pretending to be human?!" he asked.

"I'm destroying the humans from the inside out! Learning weaknesses, planting predicites. You idiot, did Deep Blue tell you nothing?! " I screeched angrily, standing up.

"So you work for Deep Blue as well? Then we're on the same team," he said, a smirk appearing on his face.

"No, actually were not. I work with the humans, you do not. Now if you would be so kind as to leave me alone, I can get back to my planning," I said, turning to face away from him.

"More like fuming..." he muttered, floating in front of me.

"UGH! That's it! I'm out of here!" I yelled, instantly warping away.

* * *

I reappeared on top of the roof of a tall skyscraper. All of Tokyo could be seen from here. It was a beautiful evening, and despite the light pollution, I could still see a few stars twinkling in the sky. It was here, atop this building, where I usually talk to Deep Blue. A green swirling vortex opened next to a pair of heating vents. I approached it and knelt down.

"Master..."

"Yes, Tsuki?" He answered from the dark green mist.

"There is another from our world here. Why? I thought I was the only one on this mission!" I demanded.

"You're undercover and he's hand on. It takes two to do the job. Or as I've heard these humans say, it takes two to tango. Whatever that may be."

"It's a dance, Master. And why didn't you tell me to begin with? I could have put up with it if I had known!" I was trying to be patient with my master, knowing that he could kill me or replace me at any time.

"Well, I actually just assigned him to the job. Our planet is worsening by the day and we cannot just have one undercover Cyniclon. We need to take this world as soon as possible. From now on you will relay all weaknesses and information back to me so that they can immediately be used against the humans. So I'm sorry if I didn't notify you, but I believe saving our planet is more important than interrupting your work for a friendly chat. You'll have to work with him for our planet's sake," he said calmly but sternly.

"All right, Master..." I sighed.

The portal closed, leaving me alone on the roof top. Tired and still frustrated, I turned around to leave, only to come face to face with the man from before. A big smirk was plastered across his face. Quickly, I grabbed his arm and warped both of us in case Deep Blue tried to listen to what I had to say. We reappeared a few miles away on top of another skyscraper.

"So you found out that you have to work with me?" He asked.

"Just shut up! I'm only going to work with you because I have to, not because I want to. Piss me off and I'll kill you without hesitation," I said looking him the eyes.

"I doubt it. You like me and I can see it in your eyes. Just try and kill me," he said, the smirk on his face only widening.

"Fine I will!" Out of know where I summoned my throwing stars in one hand and my dagger in the other.

I may be a scientist, but Deep Blue would never have let me serve him had I not been extensively trained in combat.

"DIE!" I screamed, lunging at him.

I threw the stars and tried to stab him with the dagger. He dodged the first attacks but didn't dodge the stars when they came back to me like boomerangs. They cut his arms and he gave me a deadly glare.

"You're so going to pay for that," he said, charging at me.

Two dragon swords appeared in his hands and he lunged at me. I caught his sword with my dagger. He swung the free sword at me and I ducked, then kicking out one of his legs from under him. He fell and I rolled over his back. I tossed my throwing stars again as Dren stood up. He managed to knock both of them out of the air with a mere flick of the wrist. My stars hung from the tip of his sword and I heard Dren chuckle. He began to spin his other short sword, approaching me slowly. I grunted, accepting that this wasn't going to end quickly, and ran at him with my dagger at the ready.

After what seemed like hours of fighting, we both had many cuts and scrapes on all of our extremities. We were both evenly matched. There was no way one of us could win, even if we tried again and again. I was very pleased that I could keep up with someone who specializes as a warrior, but it must've been a blow to ego for him.

Breathing heavily, we stopped fighting and rested. Both of us were exhausted and I knew it was time to call it quits. I walked over to him and sat down.

"You're... very... good." I stated between breaths with a weak smile.

"Thanks, you are too," he said, sitting down beside me.

We sat on the edge of the building, looking out over the bustling Asian city. I laid my head down on his shoulder and rested my eyes. I always felt that combat brought a sort of intimacy with it, that the competitors came to a great understanding of one another after a battle. I felt more comfortable with him now, and I had to trust him either way. This man was going to have my back for the duration of this mission, this war.

"Hey, what's your name?" he asked.

"Tsuki. You?"

"Dren."

"It was nice fighting you, Dren," I said, looking up at him.

"Same here."

When I looked into his eyes I saw something different this time, a yearning, a need. I had seen this before back home, it was very common among those who worked or fought together. My culture understands only two aspects in romantic relationships, convenience and lust. This was not truly convenient.

_I can't... It's been so long..._

Then, without realizing it, our faces had grown awfully close. Dren's golden orbs drew me in. My eyes fluttered close and I felt my face growing warm. Soon my lips were only an inch away from his.

* * *

**A/N:** _Well, there are certainly more details in there. I'm at least content to have this version published. XD  
_  
_If you would like to leave a review go ahead, or you can send me a message. I love hearing from my readers, and I hope I am doing this story justice. For those of you who are new, I again encourage you __**NOT**__ to read the old version. Take care, and within a couple weeks I hope to have more chapters up._


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello, Minna-san! I've been hard at work with finals, but now that I'm on my break, it's time for these chapters to start being re-written. After re-watching three episodes and spending at least six hours on this single chapter, I hope I have at least improved a tinsy bit. I apologize to those of you who I told that it would be out earlier, but I was rather distracted today. Take care and enjoy this very long chapter.

* * *

Suddenly, the wind picked up speed, and I felt an icy chill caress my spine. My blonde hair whipped between our faces, and broke my trance. I blinked and pulled away, realizing how late it was and that I had school in the morning. Dren gave me a confused and upset gaze, his amber orbs intense and glowing in the moonlight.

"Sorry… I- I have to go. I'll see you around."

Without another world, I warped away, the night sky rippling and enveloping me. I reappeared on the steps of my apartment building. It was dark and quiet; the lights from the street polluted the sky and disguised the stars.

_I can't believe I just about kissed him. Where the hell was my head? What was I thinking? I promised myself I would be better than my parents. _

Shaking my head, I ran up the steps and into the building. Upon reaching my apartment, I slammed the door open and then closed. Once the locks, all four of them, were closed, I let out a scream of frustration and collapsed to my knees. It was my studies, my life's work that had shaped my opinions and beliefs. So much of my life was devoted to researching and understanding humanity that I had morphed my own personality to match that of the emotional creatures I studied.

_Science and study have led me beyond the scope of my imagination. My parents warned me about the repercussions, that it is normal to experience a phase where my work envelops my life, but that when it gets to the point where you become what you study…you have failed._

"I AM NOT HUMAN! I don't have to be better than my parents. They were upstanding Cyniclons and held tradition very close to their hearts. I do not have to restrict myself to mere human beliefs," I proclaimed in an attempt to boost my self-esteem.

Tired and achy, I walked into the bathroom. I turned the water on in the shower and then disrobed. Carefully, I brushed the knots out of my blonde hair created by the wind. I wished I had kissed him. I wished that wasn't so in character as a human that I forgot who I was as a Cyniclon. I wished that I could just grow up already. I was acting like a confused child.

After having a warm, relaxing shower, I went and flopped down on my single bed. I wanted nothing more than to get some sleep and forget about the whole ordeal. Pulling the covers up around my naked form, I sighed and tried to forget who I was for a night. Neither human nor Cyniclon, just peaceful unassociated me for one night.

When I awoke the next morning, I was feeling slightly better and a little more chipper. After getting changed into my school uniform, I grabbed my backpack and noticed the analog clock on the kitchen wall. It's hands pointed out that I was going to be late. Without another thought, I ran out the door and almost forgot to lock it.

_Gah! I'm such an idiot. How am I going to get to school on time? Wait a minute..._

I had been sprinting down the crowded streets, until I realized that I didn't have to limit myself to human transportation methods. Quickly, I slid into a dark and desolate ally. With a snap of my fingers, I warped away.

_Why didn't I do this last time?_

Within a moment, I reappeared behind the middle school building. Smugly, I walked into the school and changed my shoes at my cubby. It felt good to be on time even after sleeping in. Once I finished swapping shoes, I saw Moe and Miwa talking by the steps. These chatterboxes were always gossiping about something. My only interest, however, was Zoey's location. I needed to keep track of my experiments, you know.

"Hi, guys," I said, putting on a fake smile.

"Ohayo, Tsuki," Miwa said.

"Hmm…no Zoey yet, huh?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

Miwa ran her fingers through her hair and sighed, "No, as usual she's late."

"Right...well let's head to class. Zoey can meet us there," I replied, walking up the stairs.

* * *

"Zoooeeyy!" I whined, looking at how dark it was now as we sat outside a theatre.

"What is it, Tsuki?" she replied, looking at her new fuzzy key chain.

I crossed my arms and huffed, "It's getting late. Why are we just sitting out here?"

Instead of running off by herself to her job this afternoon, Zoey had me running around town with her. Worse, we were following directions from an odd GPS-like keychain. Personally, I believe that the little keychain was glitching as it sent us all over the place with no true destination. Granted that wasn't all that was strange about it. I swear it talked to me once, calling me 'weirdo' and 'meanie'. When I pointed out that it spoke to me, Zoey laughed and said I was crazy. She was hiding something from me, and I bet it had to do with the Mew Mews.

"I don't know, just out here thinking!" Zoey said with that 'nothing-is-going-on' smile.

I sighed again, exasperated. We had become close friends in the past couple weeks, yet she still would not disclose anything about her job at the café or about being a Mew Mew. Granted, I had not been pushing her very hard, but I had made several unsuccessful inquiries. Staring up at the evening sky, I wondered just how I was going to learn more about what a Mew Mew was and how they knew about the alien invasion.

Then, without warning, her key chain began to talk.

"Predicite Alert! Predicite Alert!" it cried.

I jumped in shock. The only thing I had heard it say all day was 'Turn left!' or 'Go this way!' or 'Weirdo, meanie!'. But now I knew just what this keychain was, a device to sense aliens. Boy, was I glad it hadn't caught on to my presence… It only called me a meanie.

_That 'thing' can sense predicites? You've got to be kidding me! I better speak to Deep Blue tonight._

Zoey immediately hushed the device and looked over in the direction it was facing. An elderly woman and a young navy-haired girl were leaving the theatre and approaching a limousine. A small, golden-coloured puppy was following them.

"Hey, it's that 'I-don't-want-my-hankerchief-back-that-you-put-on-your-unworthy-face' girl!" Zoey exclaimed, pointing at the young woman.

After helping her grandmother into the car and getting in herself, the limo pulls away from the curb. That's when my lovely test subject decides to do something impulsive and a little insane. Zoey starts running after the car.

"Zoey!" I called, shocked that she was chasing a car on foot.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Tsuki!" she shouted, still running.

I shook my head and shoved my hands in my pockets. I couldn't butt into Zoey's chase because that may seem too forward and could bring unwanted suspicion.

"Hmm, you're being no fun, Zoey. Oh, well… That girl though... I should check her out as well. I wonder if Dren had something to do with this," I muttered, a smirk appearing on my lips.

Standing behind one of the large potted trees, I warped away with a small chuckle.

_Finally, some excitement._

* * *

After about twenty minutes of following both Zoey and the car from above, I was floating high over the dark-haired girl's house. An oversized European-style mansion stood out-of-place in downtown Tokyo.

_Well, the limo did signal great wealth. This, however, seems overkill. I still wonder why that key chain went off. I can't sense any predicites._

As I hovered, I felt a slight wave of nausea wash over me. My stomach churned and I could sense a fainting spell coming on. It had been a week or more since I had last returned to my Cyniclon form, and I guess my body was rebelling against me. Closing my eyes, I held my hand over my chest and focused on my true form. Delving deep into my soul, I brought myself back into reality. My body shifted quickly, clothes and all. My long black hair moved with the cool evening breeze and the thin dark clothes that hugged my pale form rippled in the wind. It was not painful to switch forms, but it did take considerable concentration. The only thing I had to recall now was how to retrieve the items I had on my person during transformation. There was homework to complete in my backpack and I needed to keep up appearances as a human.

Feeling refreshed, I cast my gaze back down to the mansion. Zoey had been inside for over ten minutes now. This was becoming annoying. If the girl was important or not, little had been done towards our goal lately and I had to report to Deep Blue tonight. I was about ready to attack the house while my test subject was still inside…

_Come on, Zoey… Just go home already. I don't have time for your games._

Then, as if she had read my mind, Zoey walked outside. I sighed in relief and crossed my arms. I would wait until she was out of sight to wreak my havoc. Bored, I watched as the little golden dog followed her for a bit and then stopped on the steps.

"Perfect. You'll make a great predicate," whispered a masculine voice form behind me.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a small infusor fall down and meld with the puppy. The dog began to growl and grow disappearing into the house. After a few seconds, there was a scream and Zoey went running back inside. Infuriated, I spun around and slapped my comrade. He had put Zoey in danger again.

"Dammit, Dren! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I hissed.

Dren clutched his cheek and cast me a hurt look. I felt no sympathy and held nothing back. He had pissed me off yet again.

"Just because your job is to create mayhem, doesn't mean you have to endanger my research subject!" I shouted, phasing my daggers into my hands.

I swiped at my fellow alien, only to have him disappear from view. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and I spun around to face him.

"Hehe, I just having some fun. And since when was this a research mission?" Dren chuckled, examining my face.

I narrowed my gaze and phased my daggers away. He was right; I was focusing too much on studying the humans rather than learning about how to destroy them.

"You know…you look very different as a Cyniclon…" he said sliding a hand down my arm while wearing a rather sad expression.

"Yeah, well, this is what I'm supposed to look like. Can you just buzz off? I'll speak to Deep Blue tonight and clean up your mess here," I said, yanking my arm away.

"See ya later then, I guess..." He muttered, a pensive look on his face as he warped away into the night.

With a shake of my head, I floated down to the door of the large home. Peeking inside, I caught sight of something intriguing. The other girl had transformed into a Mew Mew, one of a different colour. Her outfit was light blue and slightly different than that of Zoey. Either way, they defeated the predicate right before my eyes. The infusor spirit attempted to float back towards me, but Zoey's fluffy key chain expanded itself and then swallowed the infusor. I had a lot on my plate now, and this was going to take some time to explain to Deep Blue.

"Damn...this isn't going to work. I'll get you next time," I said instantly warping out of sight.

I reappeared atop the roof of the skyscraper where we spoke to Deep Blue. Dren was waiting for me and seemed bored. When he glanced at me, his expression didn't really changed, and the inflection in his voice still seemed bored, "Wow, you're back so soon. What happened?"

I ignored him, pissed that he had helped activate yet another Mew Mew. Zoey would have left that girl alone had it not been for his meddling. Gracefully, I walked towards the portal forming on the other side of the roof. The tall silhouette of our mission lead became evident and I bowed accordingly.

"Master, I have much to tell you." I said, crossing my legs as I sat down.

"I'm listening, Tsuki."

* * *

A few days later, I had agreed to walk to school with Zoey. The sun was shinning and I was in a relatively good mood. For some reason, few people populated the streets today. It was a wonderful morning and I had a good feeling about everything, that was until Zoey showed up late. She bolted past me, screaming that we weren't going to make it to school.

"Zoey! Wait up!" I hollered, chasing after the red-haired girl.

We sprinted down the street and when we went to turn into an alleyway, Zoey slammed into another girl. Both tumbled to the concrete, school bags flying. Oddly, there were more school bags than there should've been. I examined the other girl more carefully and counted out her bags. She had bright green hair tied neatly into two braids and wore glasses over her indigo eyes. She was carrying a total of four school bags, and seemed flustered.

"Sorry! Sorry! I'm so sorry!" the green-haired girl cried, running up to Zoey.

She helped up my companion and passed Zoey the proper book bag. She apologized profusely, but Zoey waved it off.

"No no, it's alright!" Zoey stated, attempting to calm the girl down.

Then we heard feminine voices calling from the entrance to the alley behind us. Three other girls, wearing the same uniform as the girl before us, were calling out and gesturing for her to join them. The green-haired girl smiled and gathered up her book bags.

"I'm so sorry. I've got to go!" she stated, running towards her companions.

Zoey and I exchanged confused looks, and I quickly examined her for any signs of bruising.

"You're ok, right?" I inquired.

"Yeah…I'm fine. But what's with her? She was carrying an awful lot of homework," my red-haired friend muttered.

"Don't know. But aren't we going to be late?"

"YIKES! You're right!" Zoey screeched, grabbing my hand as she began to run again.

* * *

After school, I decided to secretly follow Zoey to her work to double-check my suspicions about the second Mew Mew. Sure enough, I was right. The same girl I had seen transform into the Blue Mew was now working at the café, so there was a correlation between the two. I made notes of this in my purple notebook as I walked inside and took a seat.

I paused in my writing for a moment to watch Zoey in action. It looked like the poor red-head was running around a lot. Back and forth from table to table, Zoey was cleaning up dishes and handing out desserts and drink. The other girl, whose name I still obviously don't know, was sitting at an unoccupied table drinking tea.

"Huh? Tsuki! I didn't know you came here!" Zoey said as she stopped at my table.

"I decided to try something new," I answered, snapping my notebook shut.

"Well, I'll be right with you. My slave driver of a boss wants me to do a zillion things at once while my co-worker sits on her butt like a princess!" Zoey stated in a frustrated tone.

She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath before getting back to serving other costumers.

"Tsuki? Is that you?" a soft male voice said from a few feet away.

When I looked up I saw Wesley looking down at me with a charming smile. His medium brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail like before, and he wore the same dark pants with suspenders over a white button-up. I had almost forgotten he worked here, and now felt nervous.

"H-hi. It's been awhile huh?" I said, trying not to sound to as anxious as I was.

"Yes, it has. How's your knee doing?" he asked.

"Much better, thanks."

"Hey, that's the same school uniform as Zoey. Are you friends with her?"

I smiled, realizing he wasn't suspicious. "Actually, yes. She just had to go help some other costumers."

"Hmm, there's a party coming up. Would you like to attend?" Wesley inquired.

_A party? I bet the Mew Mews will be there. This would be the perfect opportunity to get some inside information…_

"Of course, I'd love to!"

But just as I said that, I heard yelling. Apparently, Zoey had spilt something on three costumers and was now making it worse.

"Oh dear. I'll talk to you later, and I'll ask Zoey for your address. Alright?" Wesley said as he walked back towards the kitchen.

"Sounds good to me," I replied.

When I glanced over at Zoey she had moved on to another table. She was now talking to a familiar girl about ghosts. Upon a further inspection, I noticed that it was the same girl from this morning with the braided green-hair and large oval glasses.

When Zoey took a special interest in someone, I became interested too. The last time this happened, the girl became a Mew Mew. I wanted to know more, so I continued to eavesdrop. When the name Excalibur High came up, a smirk appeared on my lips. Too easy. With that, I quickly got up from my seat and left the cupcake café behind. I was in a hurry and made more notes in my notebook. I might be able to stop Zoey from activating the next Mew Mew.

Then, as I ran down the street began to feel my body growing weaker. My head became extremely light and my vision began to fade. Something was wrong.

"I'm losing energy too fast. I need to rest..." I warped home, only to collapse instantly onto my bed.

_I'm just… I'm so….tired… What's happening to me?_

* * *

I had called in sick to school the day after I collapsed so I missed Zoey's gymnastic routine. But I also received an invitation in the mail to that party Wesley mentioned. I was sure he suspected something of me, but I wasn't sure of what. Either way, I had missed out on a couple days of recon and most likely the activation of another Mew Mew. I needed to get back in the game but I had to look like nothing was wrong. I had to look desirable and yet untouchable. This way women would feel intimidated by me, and the men…they would be more willing to divulge information. Humans were so strange in that aspect. They wore clothes to create sexual attraction for the body underneath the clothes. A confusing concept... but at least it was not too hard to pull off. So on the night of the party, I tried to figure out what would be best to wear.

"A dress..."

I snapped my fingers and cycled through various outfits on my body. The one thing I love about being a Cyniclon was the ability to materialize objects we had seen or touched in person. These were several dresses I had seen while window shopping with Zoey.

The first dress was neon green, and the pencil skirt hugged my hips. It didn't feel quite right. The second dress was white and flowy, but was too long for my tastes. The third dress was red and had a long slit down the thigh, but was extremely revealing. After a few more tries, I came up with what I wanted. I concentrated on the outfit and snapped my fingers. Instantly, the dress I imagined was what I was wearing. It was a long black kimono with peach blossoms dotted along it. The sash around the middle section was a navy blue a kimono, it was snug and hugged my curves beautifully, the neckline also showed off just enough cleavage to catch one's eye but not enough to appear slutty.

"Hmm… Perfect!" I said, twirling around.

Quickly, I tied my hair in a loose bun, leaving a few strands hanging gently in my face. I smiled and left the apartment. After locking up, I hailed a cab. The party was at a private residence on the beach. The ride was relatively short, but I need to appear as though I arrived like a normal person, rather than having appears out of thin air. Twenty minutes later, the cab pulled up to a gorgeous beach house. The sun had just set and the waves were crashing softly against the beach. Once I paid the driver, I hurried up the steps to the front door. A doorman checked my invitation and I was let in. My first task was then to find Zoey. Unfortunately, she wasn't easy to spot in the sea of people.

"No sign of her yet. Oh, well."

Walking around the room, I saw many different humans. All were beautifully dressed and most seemed to be having a good time. Suddenly, there was a tap on my shoulder. I spun around and there stood a boy a little taller than me with orange hair and blue eyes. He wore a black tux and was very handsome.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, offering me his hand.

"Uh, okay," I answered, blushing a dark pink.

_I've never danced formally before… What an adventure being a human is!_

Music for the Waltz started and we began to dance. Due to my lacking dance skills, I let him lead. It was quite fun. I felt like I was floating on a dream cloud. I was actually dancing and having fun, something logical little me had never thought of doing. The first and last time I had truly danced was in my quarters at home when I heard about my acceptance in the Earth Recon program, and that was just a silly shimmy of joy. When the song ended, everybody stopped dancing and clapped for the pianist. She was obviously classically trained and I certainly enjoyed listening to her play.

"What's your name? I'm Jason," the boy stated.

"I'm Tsuki, " I replied with a smile.

"Pleasure to meet you, Tsuki," Jason murmured as he kissed my hand and walked away.

_Whoa, gentleman tendencies too? I should've learned to dance a while ago if I knew men acted like this on a dance floor._

Blushing a dark red, I walked out a backdoor. I could smell the sea air and even see the stars. Without the lights from downtown Tokyo, many of the constellations were visible. It was beautiful.

"So you're here too?" a voice from behind me asked.

"Yeah, so what?" I said, turning around to face Dren.

"Nice outfit," he chuckled, looking me up and down.

_Great… Now I have to deal with this clown again. Maybe he'll cause some mayhem and make things interesting. Might help me learn more about the Mew Mew I missed._

"Whatever. So are you planning to crash or what?" I asked.

"Of course. And here comes my subject now," he said as the pianist from before came out onto the deck.

I bit my lip. She was a talented woman, and it would be a shame if she lived on forever as a predicate. But that talent might make the predicate stronger. In any case, it was more likely the Mew Mews would beat it, since they had knocked out every predicite so far.

"Hmm, I'll make it more interesting. Don't leave until I come out again," I said, walking back inside.

I went back to the party only to be greeted by Jason again. The smiling red-head passed me a cup of punch and subtly looked me up and down. From his expression, I guessed he liked what he saw.

"Here, I got you something to drink," Jason stated.

"Oh, arigatou," I replied, taking the glass.

After talking for a bit, I finished my drink and said good-bye to Jason. He seemed a little sad, as if he wanted to talk more, but too much time had past. I wanted to return to check on Dren. When I reached the window, I saw that the Mew Mews had just defeated the new predicite. I was also right about having missed the activation of a new Mew Mew, since a Green Mew had joined Zoey and the Blue Mew. At least I was right about one thing, Dren failed again with the predicite. Shaking my head, I put on my most innocent face and walked out on to the wooden deck.

"Is everything okay? I heard voices," I called out, just loud enough for Dren and the Mew Mews to hear me.

My fellow alien cast me a glance, his amber orbs showing frustration. Then Zoey noticed me, and almost immediately a look of worry spread across her face. Dren then understood my idea after seeing Zoey and flew down to my side. He grabbed my wrist hard and I pretended to be in pain.

"What do we have here? Aren't you pretty," he chuckled, pulling me closer.

"Huh?! Let me go!" I cried in a helpless voice, pulling back.

"Tsuki!" Zoey screeched as she got on her feet, a heart-shaped bell in hand, "Leave her alone, Dren!"

"Why should I? Are you jealous, Kitty-kat?" he asked, lifting me off the ground.

"EWWWW! No way! Just leave her alone!" Zoey demanded.

I tired my best to make myself as nervous looking as possible, even yanking gently on my arm and trembling in fear. Hopefully, I was a believable actor, otherwise my test subject might catch on.

"We'll be having fun won't we?" Dren asked me, holding my neck so I would face him.

_Wow, he is handsome up close… Oh, he smells so good! _

"Stop it!" I cried, struggling to get free even though I didn't want to.

"Bye bye, Kitty-kat," Dren said as he wrapped an arm around my waist and warped us both.

We reappeared in what I like to call, the green dimension. It's an inner sanctum that Deep Blue has provided us for rest and recuperation. Swirls of various shades of green and brown coat the ceiling floor and walls. It was a calming realm and I had been neglecting to visit. Deep Blue preferred we contact him from here, but it was difficult to get here in human form for me.

"Well, that was fun," Dren said, casting me aside and floating upside down.

I crossed my legs, a little frustrated. This was not what I had planned exactly, but that's what I get for simply hinting and not telling.

"I wanted you to torture the Mew Mews by holding me hostage in front of them not actually kidnap me!" I said as I transformed back to my Cyniclon form.

Dren turned his gaze to the side, rolling his eyes. He seemed unenthused and even bored.

"Oh, sooorryyy! You didn't quite give me the details," he said a frown on his face now.

"Never mind. I'll have to come up with a story tomorrow. See ya," I sighed.

I turned my back to Dren and closed my eyes to focus on warping home. Just as I was about to disappear he grabbed my hand. I felt the coolness of his pale flesh again my palm and a wonderful shiver slid down my spine.

_Alright, I'm attracted to him. I'll admit that to myself… but he's sure as hell not going to hear it._

"Why are you going so soon? I want to have some fun," Dren said, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"What do you mean by that...?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Change back into a human for me."

"Fine."

In a blink, my form returned to my dress with blonde hair and green eyes again. I felt Dren's grip suddenly tighten and he pulled me closer. Then I felt his chest against my back, and I let out a small relaxed sigh. He wasn't extremely toned, but I could feel a slight muscle pattern through our clothes.

"Okay, now what?" I asked, trying to hide my enjoyment.

In the blink of an eye, he had tackled me to the ground and pinned me down. My heart skipped a beat and my irises grew to the size of saucers. While this wasn't new to me, I still became excited. Attraction was a wonderful feeling, and I understood why my culture tended to ignore love. Lust was awesome. I didn't really understand this as a child. My parents married for political and financial convenience, and each had several lovers on the side. I grew up watching my parents spread their love around, whilst learning human culture where monogamy was the norm. My views on sex and love were very twisted, but since I was in my youth, a little playing around didn't seem so bad.

I was very excited and was about to wrap my arms around Dren's neck until his expression changed. I saw something slightly darker behind the façade of his amber gaze. Then he made one of his Dragon Swords appear.

"D-Dren..." I whimpered, a little shocked and scared.

"Relax. I'm just going to make you look like you've been beaten and tortured. It'll scare the hell out of Kitty-kat and her friends," he stated, taking the knife to my dress.

He tore it in several places, the knife slicing through the thin fabric quickly and easily. The ripping sound was loud and small silken thread flew through the air around us.

"Oh, I see. But did you have to tackle me?" I asked, looking down at him as he tore large holes in my dress.

A cheeky grin appeared on the green-haired alien's face, "I just wanted to see the look on your face."

"Hehe funny. Now just tearing my dress wont do the trick..." I said, trying to think, "Uh, I need to stand up."

"Hm? Right," Dren agreed, getting off of me.

I stood and brushed out my dress, examining the tears. I did not feel any different, but my dress sure as hell looked like I had thrown it into a lawn mower.

"Okay...Um, we need to rip one of my sleeves off and muss up my hair..." I said, trying to tangle my straight hair.

"Got it," Dren said, ripping my left sleeve off.

Now with my hair a little messed up and my dress in tatters I was closer to looking the part of an abused hostage. There was barely anything below my mid-thigh level and the one sleeve still attached had a few tears.

"Well, with no cuts it seem pretty pointless," he said, shrugging.

"Well... Alright. Just be quick." I said, squeezing my eyes shut.

I didn't like the idea of being hurt, but I knew it would have to happen. I waited a few seconds and then felt a slight pain coming from different places on my arms. Followed by a couple places on my legs. Then finally I felt one last swipe below my left cheek. Each cut stung, but I swallowed hard, and pushed the pain to the back of my mind.

"There. Done."

I opened my eyes and saw my scarred body. In actuality, none of these cuts would scar since Cyniclons heal faster, but they would be believable enough for now.

"Wow, we did well. How long has it been since we left?" I asked.

"Thirty minutes. We should wait a little while longer," he said sitting down again.

The mood had shifted again, but I noticed that Dren couldn't take his eyes off me. I felt a little exposed and vulnerable as his eyes explored my body.

"Right...Um, do want to make a predicite out of me?" I asked looking off in the opposite direction, still a little flustered from our earlier proximity.

"Th-That's not possible. You're Cyniclon not human!" Dren said with a look of shock on his face.

"I didn't mean it literally. Take another human and pretend that you used me. I can easily create a fake soul for Zoey to put back into me later," I said rolling my eyes.

"Oh... Don't you think that's over kill?" he asked.

"Eh, you're right. Maybe another time."

Silence settled over us once more, and I felt his gaze scan over me once again. It was almost unnerving and I was feeling shy. It had been so long since I had been intimate with anyone; hell, I hadn't even been that close to someone in at least five years.

Dren tilted his head and smiled, "We have time… Why not come up with your story now?"

"Sure," I answered, pleased to have the silence broken.

"Hmmm… How about I tortured you, asking for information on the Mew Mews. Where they resided and stuff like that."

"Sounds good enough. I hope they believe it. So what else...?" I said, trying to figure out another fake tidbit of info.

"Fake tears? You should probably be crying when you wake up." he suggested.

I was about to agree with my comrade until I noticed the stinging pain was fading. When my eyes caught sight of my wounds, I saw that they were starting to close.

"Uh oh... We have a problem." I grumbled.

"What? They're already healing? Not now!" Dren stated, getting up.

Cyniclons have better immune systems and there for do not get sick easily and heal quickly, but I wasn't expecting it to happen this quickly. I may not be a believable hostage anymore.

"We have to go now. Forty-five minutes is long enough," I replied, warping while placing my hand upon his shoulder.

We both reappeared above the forest outside the party and search for the Mew Mews. Below I spotted them, slowly leaving the beach house and making their way down onto the gravel driveway.

* * *

-Zoey's Point Of View-

"I can't believe he took her!" I cried.

One of my best friends had just been kidnapped by my worst enemy and today was supposed to be a good day… This was ridiculous.

"Zoey, I'm sure she'll be okay- wait, scratch that. I'm sure she won't be okay," Corina stated, appearing uninterested.

"Corina!" I shouted angrily.

"Poor Miss Tsuki... I knew I should have kept a closer watch over her." Wesley said, shaking his head.

"You knew her?" I questioned.

"Yes. The day you became a Mew Mew I ran into her brought her to the café," the brown-haired chef replied.

I paused for a moment, remembering the day when my world was turned upside down. I had an awkward date with Mark, but I remembered something. I remember Tsuki running towards me, and then… Darkness.

"Wait a minute... She was there when that light hit me! I think it hit her too! I remember her screaming," I muttered.

"Are you sure about that?" Elliot asked.

"Positive! But what does that mean?" I asked, a little confused.

"Well it means that she might be an extra Mew Mew. Maybe that's why Dren took her," Wesley answered.

I sighed as we all walked out of the building. It was very dark out and it had been almost an hour since Tsuki had gone missing. We had stayed at the party to see if she would show up. Though there still was no sign of her, I hadn't given up hope. Elliot thought that we should head home and look for her the next day. Since it would be a Sunday, we all had the day off from school and it might be easier to find her.

Just as we all got outside though, right by the forest I saw a figure lying on the grass.

"Is that...Tsuki!" I screeched, running over to her.

Her body was cut and her clothes torn, her hair was also a tangled mess, and she seemed paler than usual.

_How could I have let this happen? Why are my friends being hurt?_

"Oh my god! What did he do to you?!" I cried, trying to help her up.

"Hehe, I just asked her a few questions which she didn't answer. I warned her she'd be in trouble if she didn't answer, but she still refused," Dren snickered, floating high above the trees.

"So you tortured her?! Why don't you just leave us alone?!" I shouted.

Dren waved while smirking, "Aw sorry, Kitty-kat can't do that. Bye."

In a flash, Dren's thin form rippled away into the night sky, leaving us be for now. Hopefully, this would be that last I saw of him for a while.

"Tsuki?! Are you alright? I asked, shaking her by her shoulders.

"Miss Tsuki?" Wesley asked as he walked over.

Tsuki lay limp in my arms but slowly began to stir. Eventually her eyes fluttered open and she wore a very glazed over expression.

"Hmm? Where am I?" Tsuki asked.

"Don't worry you're safe now," I murmured, helping her to her feet.

"Let's get her back to the cafe for now," Elliot stated, picking Tsuki up bridal style.

She seemed to flinch and then blush a little, but continued to be rather dazed. I only hoped she would be okay, but that did seem rather odd…

* * *

-Tsuki's POV-

I sighed internally, trying to ignore how close the blonde haired man was carrying me. I had not received this much closeness to men in years. This was a lot to process in a single night. After being carried back to the café they had placed me in a bed on the second floor. Wesley was constantly asking me if I was hungry or if I wanted a cool cloth for my forehead. In reality, I really just wanted to go home.

"Tsuki, you should get some rest." Wesley said, coming into the room for the fiftieth time.

"Actually, I'm feeling a lot better. I just would like to go home. I feel better when I'm safe at home in my own bed," I said literally begging to go home.

"Are you sure?" he inquired, lips pursed in an unsure fashion.

"Positively sure!" I said with a smile.

"Well, then you put on my jacket and I'll walk you home," he demanded in his normally soft and sweet tone.

I never could've thought someone could demand something so gently, but he pulled it off. Wesley smiled while handing me a large brown jacket. I nodded and wrapped the jacket around me. He walked next to me in the cold night air for the whole twenty-minute walk back home. When we reached my apartment, I opened the door and handed him his jacket back.

"Arigatou, Wesley-san. I'll see you later," I said with a smile as I shut my door.

He had merely waved before I had closed and locked my door up tightly. With a huge heavy sigh, I leaned back against the door and slid to the floor.

"Note to self. Think up better plans!" I said with a sigh.

* * *

Sunday arrived faster than I thought, and I decided to go for a walk today. It would relax my muscles and I would be able to look for some good spirits. I put on a purple long sleeve shirt and a knee length black skirt. When I looked in the mirror all the cuts were gone. On my way out the door, I snatch up a fresh purple notebook and pen. I had actually filled two notebooks already, both of which sat on a short bookshelf in my room. I could not believe the amount of data I was collecting, not only for my own research, but for Deep Blue's mission as well.

"Well, let's see what Tokyo has to offer," I said walking out the door.

The sun was bright today and there were very few clouds in the sky. An almost perfect day. I walked around town for a while until it was the afternoon. I walked into the park and saw Zoey being chased by a girl with yellow hair and an orange outfit in one of the park's many courtyards. The girl was much younger than Zoey; she was probably not even a decade old. Granted, that girl had spunk. She was extremely energetic and was excited, bouncing around like a rubber ball. After watching how spunky and energetic this kid was I decided that her spirit would be perfect.

"Hmm… I'll come back for her tomorrow, after school."

Though I still followed her and Zoey around for a while, I knew not much was happening. Then, I realized, this girl was probably yet another Mew Mew. There was no way I was going to miss this chance again. After Zoey yelled at the girl, her gaze swept across the courtyard, I decided I would have to be stealthier tomorrow because she almost saw me.

When the next day arrived, I did just that. I hid amongst the bushes and, like the creeper I am, I scribbled notes in my notebook as fast as possible. I had been watching this girl all afternoon and she seemed just as energetic as the day before, though today she also seemed sad. When she fell off her big ball and hit her head, I knew it was time for me to make my move.

"Oh, are you alright? That's was quite a fall!" I said, running over to her.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm ok! I'm Kiki the great!" she stated with a smile.

"Well, I'm Tsuki, and I've seen your act. You live up to your name," I replied, helping her up.

"Thanks. I could show you a few tricks if you like?" Kiki asked.

"Well, sure. I'd love to see some."

I was mentally smirking to myself as she began to balance on her ball. I had her right where I wanted her, and I would be able to steal this girl right from under the Mew Mews' nose. Then I realized something. I was acting like an evil villain from those horribly cheesy, human animated films. I felt… Almost dirty. Guilt washed over me and I stepped back, afraid of how I was starting to act. Was pleasing Deep Blue that important?

_Where the hell is my head? I need to fight the humans, but this girl… She's so innocent… So pure. Why her…? What's wrong with me?_

"Well, aren't you energetic?" a voice from behind me said.

I turned around to see Dren floating right behind us. I glanced back at him my eyes flashing purple. When I looked back at Kiki I knew that I should leave. I had hesitated, and Dren had probably been watching her just as long as I had. He had a thing for following Zoey around I noticed, so I doubt I was the only one who noticed Kiki.

_I need to think…_

The little girl was too busy talking with Dren to notice that I had just bolted out into the bushes. Soon Zoey appeared as a Mew Mew and began to protect little Kiki.

_Okay, this is becoming repetitive. Dren always fails, and I'm too stuck in my own head...I want to join the fun and be useful! Though I have to stay hidden... Hmm, what can I do while hidden... Oh, I know! I'll cause trouble all around the city for them to clean up...Muwahahaha! *Cough* eh..._

Without a word, I warped myself away. When I reappeared, it was over a bunch of suburban homes. I floated to the ground and brushed any dust from my skirt. I looked like an innocent school girl, and this façade would only make my work easier.

Approaching a rather innocent looking cube shaped home, I snickered, "Hehe. Let's start here."

The purple door opened slowly, and a woman stuck her head out. She appeared to be the sweet motherly type and I tried to suppress my conscious as I prepared to turn this neighbourhood upside down.

"Yes?" the woman in her thirties with dark brown hair asked.

"I'm your new neighbour and I was wondering if I could borrow something..." I said, acting all cute and innocent even with my irresistible puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, of course dear. What is it?" she asked.

"Your Spirit!" I shouted, raising my hand and ripping her spirit from her body.

She fainted almost instantly, and I began to infuse the pair. It was a strange combination, but I let the predicite do the work.

"Hehehe. One down. Ten more to go." I said, running a hand through my long golden locks.

Twenty minutes past and most of the neighbourhood had been turned into raving monsters. All in all I'd say I had a lot of fun, and I didn't turn any children either so I wasn't very guilty. Tired, I decided I should head home, but when I looked down to the street below I saw the Mew Mews running towards the suburban neighbourhood.

"Yeppers, time to leave. That's enough fun for one night."

With a quick snap of my fingers, I had warped home, and lay with my hands behind my head on my warm and cozy bed.

* * *

A/N: Thank for reading! Please leave me reviews if you have any comments about the chapter. I apologize that it took so long to get this chapter up, but I was waiting for my Winter break to get started and for me to have some free time to actually write. Hopefully, I'll be able to post more chapters in the coming days. Thank you so much for your support, and I hope you enjoyed this instalment.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** _I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Holidays and a lot of other things delayed this. But I made sure it was super long for all of you to enjoy! At least 3,000 words longer than Chapter 2. I really do hope all of you like this, as most of this chapter(about 8,000 words) are brand new. The entire first half of the chapter is new actually, as I felt Tsuki needed more time to develop herself and her 'symptoms'. I also included a new part where the Mew Mews meet alien Tsuki! I hope you all enjoy it~_

* * *

BEEP!

I yawned.

BEEP!

I grumbled.

BEEP!

I rolled over.

BEEP!

"DAMN, I'M UP!"

My fist slammed down on the button atop the blaring alarm clock. Sunlight streamed into my bedroom from the lone window above my nightstand. I could feel the sun's warmth upon my face as I stepped into the light next to my bed. My hair was mussed up and I felt groggy. A tingling, itchy sensation spread across the side of my neck and I absent-mindedly scratched at it. My night of chaos with the predicites had gone well for the Mew Mews I assume, since there were no blaring sirens or the sounds of an alien-triggered apocalypse outside.

I shuffled over to my dresser and slide my fussy purple bathrobe around my thin and nude frame. As I did up the belt, my left hand returned to scratching at my neck. Sleepily, I made my way into the kitchenette and began to make some breakfast.

_I wonder just what the Mew Mews have in mind for today… I know they've now managed to assemble four girls, but I do not know all of their names. Maybe that should be my mission objective for the day. _

After breakfast was made, a delicious plate of bacon and eggs with toast, I slipped a piece of toasting my mouth so I could carry the rest of the food to the table. Absent-mindedly I glanced at the clock, which also has flip cards that display the date. Instantly the toast fell from my lips to the floor.

"THURSDAY?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN THURSDAY?!"

I slammed my plate down on the table and scrambled up onto the counter to examine the wall-clock. I knelt on the counter with my bathrobe coming undone, but I was determined to prove I was sane. It appeared to be counting time correctly, but there was no way that date was right. I had gone to bed Saturday night and now it was Thursday morning… Something wasn't right. I quickly ran over to the living area and flipped on my television. The news came on and my eyes immediately moved to the ticker at the bottom of the screen. Lo and behold, the date was the same as the clock.

_NOT HAPPENING! No freaking way!_

I bolted into the bedroom and grabbed ahold of the alarm clock. It was extremely strange that it had gone off this morning and not woken me at all the other days. That's when I noticed that the digital clock face seemed screwy, and that it had a small dent in the top. I must've really smashed it last week, and I was lucky that it went off at all.

"Just great..." I groaned, and slid down to the floor.

I spent the rest of my morning calling the school to explain my lengthy disappearances. I then telephoned Zoey, who said she had been by my apartment several times with homework but that I had never responded. I apologized and asked to meet her at the café this afternoon.

Later, I sat at one of the adorable tables, notebook and pen in hand, just observing the customers of the cupcake café. I was also watching the new waitress, Kiki. I had neglected to learn the name of both the green-haired girl and the rather lazy but snobbish girl who always seemed to take a cup of tea rather than work. Actually, it seemed the green-haired girl was absent at the moment. Granted, my purpose here was to find out more about them and I had Zoey to here to help me, so I need not stress anymore.

Energetic Kiki giggled loudly and the proclaimed herself to be 'Kiki The Great' before she began to perform a plate spinning act in the middle of the dinning area. I clapped, and smiled. She was very full of life and sweet. I was recording her love of acrobatics in my notebook when Zoey approached my table.

"Tsuki! I've been so worried about you. You sounded great on the phone, so what's been wrong?" the redhead inquired.

I smiled weakly, and folded my hands across my notebook, simultaneously covering up my notes.

"Oh, I've been struggling with a virus as of late. My doctor continually orders bed rest, so I've been sleeping a lot. Don't worry though, I'm not contagious and I'm feeling much better today!"

Zoey shrugged, accepting my Swiss cheese story. I was lucky that she wasn't the brightest bulb. I only hoped I didn't have another bout of my sleeping sickness, otherwise I was going to be in big trouble with Deep Blue.

Passing me a glass of water from her tray, Zoey stated, " Well, I've missed you a ton. My friends from the café have been keeping me company, but it's not the same without you around."

"I'm sorry about that. Also, you haven't introduced me to your co-workers, I remember them helping me home after the party, and I met Kiki in the park, but I still haven't had a formal introduction," I replied.

Zoey gasped, and immediately leaned down towards me. She smiled and said, "The girl, the one drinking her fancy-smancy tea, is Corina. She's… okay. Oh, and the girl we bumped into on the way to school, Bridget, also works here on most days. She's super nice and helpful. I don't want to disturb Corina from her tea though; she'd get really angry!"

"Well, don't worry about it then. They seem like great people. What have you been up to lately?" I asked, making quick notes about the names while Zoey's eyes were averted.

"Oh! We all won this lovely vacation to a hot spring! It was so relax- er…It was nice to be out of the city, I guess. Um, and then we went for dinner at Corina's home. You would not believe the size of her house, and then there's her brother-" Zoey was cut-off mid-sentence by a familiar male voice.

"Zoey, you've been talking to this customer for over five minutes and haven't even taken her order yet. There are six other tables waiting for you."

Both of us look up to see the blonde haired man, Elliot. His blue eyes were piercing and his tan skin stood out amongst a room full of fair and pale skinned people. He was rather attractive truth be told, but since I had a feeling that he orchestrated the Mew Mews, he was my 'sworn' enemy.

_At least I can fantasize. The imagination is a wonderful thing! _

"Elliot! I'm sorry, I was just catching up with Tsuki. You remember her from the party? She's been very ill recently," Zoey hurriedly explained.

Elliot looked me up and down, and with an indifferent face he turned back to Zoey, "Yes, I remember. Go help take care of the others tables. I'll help her."

I exchanged looks with Zoey, but she reluctantly shifted her tray and then moved onto another table. Elliot slide into the seat across form me, and I closed my notebook. I was definitely wary of his intentions.

_Damn, his eyes… They really are enticing._

I smiled my best smile, trying to play the part of innocent schoolgirl as best I could. I had only experienced limited interactions with Elliot, this was our first true conversation, and this was where he would get his first real impression of me.

"I just wanted to speak to you about how you've been doing," Elliot said in a relaxed tone.

_My health? We barely know each other! Did I forget that we progressed through another step of human relationship building? I studied that so intensively… There's no way I missed that!_

"Excuse me? I didn't realize you cared so much about your customers," I chuckled, trying to understand his sudden interest.

Elliot blushed suddenly, seemingly embarrassed by his poor choice of words. "Oh, I mean… After what happened at the party…"

_He's cute when he blushes. _

"Ah, I understand. I wasn't really…horribly injured. I doubt my illness is related to that. I was experiencing certain issues before that…man abducted me. Thank you for your concern."

_That reminds me, I need to speak with Dren. I wonder what havoc he's been causing as of late._

Elliot leaned forward over the table, trying to keep our conversation a little more private. He spoke in a hushed voice; "You haven't told anyone about that…man, have you? No family, friends, no police?"

"No, I don't have any family living with me and I didn't really have the time to speak to the authorities. Should I have?"

"NO! I mean, there's no need. I've taken care of it. Actually, I was also wondering… Your illness wasn't related to any strange behavior, was it? Maybe…animalistic?" Elliot inquired, shifting awkwardly in his seat.

I raised an eyebrow, questioning his strange inquiries.

"Animalistic? No. Just lots of napping," I laughed nervously.

"Ah, well… Sorry to bother you then. Would you like some tea or a pastry, maybe?" Elliot sighed, standing up.

"That's unnecessary. I was just here to speak with Zoey. Have a wonderful day," I smiled, also getting up.

Elliot nodded, and I collected my things before turning to leave. Just as I descended the outside steps, I saw Bridget run past me and into the café while carrying some sort of newspaper. I shrugged it off, figuring she was merely late. Once I had walked a fair distance form the café, I slipped off into a thick shrub. With no one around to see, I teleported myself into the green dimension.

Still in human form, since I was far too lazy to switch back and forth repeatedly, I started to search for Dren. The dimension wasn't huge, but it wasn't hard to hide in it either. I peered around the Greek-style ruins that offered some decoration. That was when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Spinning around, I came face to face with an upside down Dren, a smirk plastered across his pale face.

"Long time no see! How are ya?" He asked.

"I'm fine, thanks. I just wanted to check in. What have you been doing with the Mew Mews lately?" I responded, sitting down and crossing my legs.

"Damn, there's a lot to tell, I hope you're comfortable."

I sighed, and leaned back against the wall. Lacing my fingers behind my head, I nodded to signal that I was ready.

Dren crossed his arms and began, "First of all, I need to tell you that I found a fifth Mew. I was trying to attack a random couple in the park last night, and out of no where this tall girl in purple attacks the predicite. I'm fairly sure the human couple saw, so I figure it won't be long before the Mew Mews figure it out."

I sat up instantly, remembering something. Bridget had come running in late with a newspaper. Had she seen an article on a girl saving that couple? If so I needed to get back to the Mew Mews, there was no telling how long it would take them to track her down.

"Really? If that's the case, I can't stick around, I need to make sure the Mew Mews don't get to her."

Dren disappeared, and then reappeared behind me, he ran his finger up and down the side of my neck, gently stroking my bare skin. His warm breath sent shivers up and down my spine. I felt his lips brush my earlobe softly and causing my knees to become weak.

Then I heard him murmur in my ear, "Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on this next Mew. If you stick with me for a while, I'll show you how it's done. I'll even tell Deep Blue tonight after I lure her out once more."

I sighed; I was out of touch because of my absence. Even Dren was getting a head of me. I felt disgusted to be doing worse than my idiot comrade who couldn't even make a predicate last. Then again, my army of predicites had no effect either. One way or another, I needed to keep up with this next Mew.

"Fine, I'll let you lead. But screw it up, and I'm in charge."

* * *

Dren's plan was interesting and slightly well thought out, but I still thought I could do better. He'd told me to stay with him for a couple days, but like I was going to stay in the green dimension. My apartment was ten times cozier. I didn't even stick around to see him draw out the other Mew Mew, especially since his plan included her getting away a second time.

_I never should've agreed to this. He's going to screw it up, like always._

Tired, I warped into my bedroom and picked up my notebook. Dren had only agreed to let me go home because I promised to be at some church at a certain time the following evening. Human religion was something I had studied extensively, and I felt it was an inappropriate place for a confrontation; disrespectful in a way. But apparently it was the best place to catch the fifth Mew Mew alone.

Sitting at my small desk at the foot of my bed, I began to sketch the small keychain device that Zoey used to sense predicites. Since I didn't own a camera, I figured for now, sketches would be my best bet. Then I realized how horrible of an artist I am.

_Damn, even my stick figures are bad. Maybe it's time to go shopping…_

I slammed my notebook shut and sighed. I'd have to get an instant camera the next day. As I stood up, my neck became itchy again. Irritated, I scratched at it and shuffled into my bedroom's attached bathroom. On the counter, next to the sink were a couple bottles of lotion. Taking care of human skin was quite complicated, so I had purchased a few skincare products when I arrived. Then when I tried to inquire about Zoey's skin care regiment she lent me a bottle of her favourite, Strawberry Sensation. Tonight, I was going to see if it helped at all. I popped open the cap and took a quick whiff.

_Mmm, surprisingly accurate strawberry scent. Since 70% of taste is smell, this must be quite delicious!_

Happily, I squirted a generous amount into my palm and took a great big lick… Then I immediately turned to the toilet and vomited. A foamy, bitter and floral taste filled my mouth, and I just about lost the entire contents of my stomach. Coughing and sputtering pink lotion, I hurriedly poured myself a glass of water from the bathroom sink. The icy, tasteless fluid swirled in my mouth, yet failed to overpower the sour chemical flavor. I spat the water-lotion mix in the porcelain bowl of the sink and tried again.

It took twenty minutes, several glasses of water, and four rounds of brushing my teeth to get rid of the soapy taste. I was very very wrong about that lotion. It was obviously not edible.

_Well, lesson learned. But that scent was deceivingly good…_

Glaring at the bottle, I hesitantly squirted a small amount of the lotion into my palm. My neck was still itching and I could only hope that this provided me with some relief. I moved my hair out of the way and then gently applied the pink lotion to my itch. A cool relaxing sensation spread across my neck and the itch faded. Once the lotion was rubbed in, I washed my hands and proceeded to go to bed. Slipping off into a wonderful slumber, all I could smell was strawberries.

* * *

"How the hell do I make this thin-"

A flash of light blinded me and a clicking noise startled me. I nearly dropped the small blue and white instant-film camera. As my vision returned, a small photo was ejected from the bottom of the camera. I snatched it up and waved it around as the instruction manual had told me. Eventually, an image of me with an extremely dumbfounded look on my face became clear.

_How lovely…_

I stood outside the church that Dren had told me to wait by, and had decided to pass the time by learning to use my new camera. Apparently, I was supposed to point it in the other direction.

Shaking off the blinding and tucking away the photo in my pocket, I looked around for any signs of Mew Mew activity. All that I saw was a large flock of crows flying by, and an oddly dressed woman in a cowboy hat enter the church. Frustrated, I snuck over to one of the windows and hid behind a bush while peeking inside. I wanted to see what humans looked like up close while they prayed. The woman, who was the lone person in the church, walked up to the highest altar and knelt down. For a woman in Japan, a cowboy hat was strange attire; it was more common to see in North American cultures than in Asian culture. I watched closely, until I heard voices and running footsteps. From my peripheral vision, I caught sight of the very colourful Mew Mews running into the church. What happened next was a myriad of confusion.

Dren appeared, followed by an army of crows, and the woman revealed herself to be the fifth Mew Mew. She looked a lot younger when transformed, and seemed very defiant of the other Mew Mews. As Dren's crow army grew, the windows shattered and I was forced to shield myself from the flying shards of stain glass. Dren seemed completely focused on destroying her and I watched as the pair dueled, but I knew Dren was losing. He was even hurt by the end of it all. The Mew Mews defeated the giant crow, and then a rather pissed looking Dren disappeared. I had been snapping photos the whole time. But the next part of the encounter was far more interesting. I had been so sure that the fifth Mew Mew would be warmly welcomed and that their little team would be a complete fighting force. But I was very wrong. I took more photos, and when I saw the fifth Mew Mew rejected Corina entirely… I knew Dren and I had a chance. I snapped one more photo when the fifth Mew Mew tossed Corina aside and turned her back on her own kind. It was a beautifully cruel scene that I knew might come in handy for later.

Quietly, I packed my camera away, and remembered Dren's injury. Worried, I warped myself back to the green dimension. Swirling colours of green, brown and burgundy surrounded me. Up ahead, I could see my fellow alien hunched over against one of the broken stone columns. I frowned. I may have a bit of a rivalry with Dren, but I definitely didn't want to see him hurt. I closed my eyes, concentrating on my true self. In a few slow breaths my form shifted to that of my dark-haired pale alien body. I could only heal Dren in this shape, so it was no use staying human.

"Was that how you planned it?" I inquired, placing a hand upon his shoulder.

Dren spun around, but when he caught sight of my face his expression fell and he shrugged off my hand.

"Mostly," grunted the green-haired alien.

I sighed and folded my arms. My comrade seemed almost bipolar. Excited to see me in one moment, unenthused the next.

"Well, now that you've failed, may I take the reigns?"

"I didn't fail! We're moving into part two of my plans… We're going to end these Mew Mews once and for all; with the fifth's Mew Mew cooperation, of course," he chuckled, still gripping his injured mid-section.

I rolled my eyes and knelt down next to Dren. I raised my hands and placed one over another, then hovering them over the wound. Concentrating, a small blue light appeared beneath my hands and Dren's wound began to heal even faster than normal.

"Where the hell did you learn that trick?" he asked, still avoiding eye contact.

"I chose to be trained as a war medic when I joined the Earth program. It was the only rank I could take that would still allow me to pursue my studies of humanity while still fighting for the cause," I stated in a monotone, completely focusing my energy on healing his wounds.

Dren cast me a confused look, "But I've never seen a medic do…that. Usually there's a device involved."

I sighed and pulled my hands back, the wound was mostly sealed up and would probably only cause him slight pain from now on.

"I know. I modified my medication and surgical devices to displace their energies into one beam, and then having placed them face up in the exact same spot, I can create a small portal through which I can direct their power. This way, I carry around less junk and heal more efficiently. Unfortunately, it drains the power cells of both devices, so Ill have to replace them when I return home."

My comrade shook his head and began to rub his formerly injured abdomen. He turned his body away from me, as if he couldn't stand to be near me. I felt a little rejected, and confused. One moment this guy is all over me, the next he won't touch me. I didn't understand.

"I'll need some help though. Normally I wouldn't ask, but I'd rather not leave this to chance. I created a small self-destructive dimension in which I will capture a couple of the Mew Mews. I want you to stay there and await them, then keep an eye on them until the dimension collapses in on itself. Can you do that, Miss Scientist?" he sneered.

"Uh, yes. I'll do whatever you need. But remember our deal, you fail and I lead," I replied, before snapping my fingers and disappearing from the green dimension.

* * *

The following evening came quicker than I thought, and it felt good to remain in Cyniclon form so long. I stayed in this form so that when the Mew Mews did arrive, they wouldn't recognize me. I would have to remain silent, however, for my voice would remain the same.

_Man, it feels like I've just had an awesome stretch. Very refreshing to be my old self. My neck doesn't itch either!_

Looking around, I had to hand it to Dren, his dimensional creation work was almost flawless. The scenery he created was gorgeous too, a lush endless meadow of beautiful flowers. My only issue with the dimension was the sky. Not only was it not blue or any other relaxing colour, but also it was the obvious ominous swirl of a temporary dimension. It was lazy, sloppy mistake. It was like buying a house and not putting up any drapes, just not attractive and showing little interest in appearance. The only reason I didn't change it myself was the fact that it was self-destructive and would be a waste my energy that was needed to change forms later.

I floated around above the meadow for a while, waiting patiently for Dren's plan to work, which I highly doubted it would. After this, I was definitely done being a Cyniclon for a little while. I had missed a lot of school and I felt Zoey was beginning to question me intentions.

With a yawn, I decided maybe some extra rest would do me good. I crossed my legs and place both hands behind me head. Floating comfortably, I let out a relaxed sigh and closed my eyes.

"AHHHHH!" screeched three high-pitched voices.

_This is why I sleep better as a human…No rest for the wicked, much?_

Looking down, three of the Mew Mews, Corina, Bridget and Kiki had been warped into the meadow dimension. They all looked terrified, save for Bridget who seemed very confused without her glasses. After a few desperate seconds of them trying to figure out what happened, the girls then started to look around and noticed little old me.

"ALIEN!" Kiki shouted, jumping up and down while pointing a tiny finger at me.

"Who are you!? I've never seen another alien other than Dren. Has he had a partner all this time..?" Corina inquired.

I merely smiled and floated around above them. Their powers were useless here as this was our domain. I was just a babysitter.

"HELLO? Answer me!" Corina shouted.

"There's another alien…? Are you sure?" Bridget stammered.

"Yes, Bridget onee-sama! She's right there! She's got long dark hair and bright purple eyes!" Kiki explained.

I smiled again and flew a small circle around the girls, which served to only piss Corina off even more. I landed in front of them, and sat down crisscrossing my legs. Kiki mimicked me and I giggled quietly. She was adorable.

"I don't think she's here to hurt us," Kiki stated.

Corina frowned and crossed her arms over her small chest, "Are you going to hurt us?"

I shook my head, signaling a response of 'no' to her question. That wasn't my job. That was the dimension's job. I was merely here to watch them, so I could interact for a little while and learn more about them. At the moment, I could see a frustrated Bridget squinting as hard as she could to try and see anything. Feeling bad, I figured I could give her a temporary fix while she was here. It would only work in our dimensions, but she just needed to see a little while before the dimension swallowed her up.

Carefully, I placed both of my hand over her eyes, then closed mine and concentrated. Corina called out, saying I should back off, but Kiki leaned in to see what was happening. Light glowed form the palms of my hands and when I removed them from Bridget's face, she blinked and gasped.

"I can see! Oh my goodness, I can see! Have you fixed my eyes forever?" she asked, looking up at me, her eyes finally connecting with my shape.

I shook my head and tapped my wrist to indicate that it was only temporary. Kiki began to wave a hand in front of Bridget's face, and Corina rolled her eyes, then refusing to look at me.

"Thank you still! I guess aliens aren't so bad… Just Dren," Bridget said, smiling up at me.

I chuckled and floated above them again. That's when everything changed, and I knew they wouldn't think much of me anymore. The ground began to shake and rumble, the flowers were swallowed up by golden quick sand. The girls screamed and thrashed, but I merely flew higher to avoid them mess.

"HELP US, PLEASE!" Bridget called out, reaching for me.

Part of me started to die inside when I saw that and didn't move. I longed to help them, but I couldn't, I had to watch as the sand swallowed them whole. But it didn't and I didn't have to watch. Suddenly, a large purple whip burst into the dimension, and along with it came the fifth Mew Mew. She rescued her comrades and they all disappeared before the dimension collapsed. I took my leave as well, knowing it would mean certain death to stay there. When I warped back to the human world, I landed outside in an alley way in downtown Tokyo. As I fell form the warp, a large amount of sand came out with me. I grunted and brushed myself off before standing up.

_Well, looks like Dren screwed up again! It's my turn to lead now…_

I focused on my human form, and shut my eyes. With a blink and a little bit of effort, I had shifted back to beautiful blonde, human Tsuki.

"NYA?!" came a familiar voice.

I quickly walked out of the alleyway and noticed I had warped into an alley right next to the famed Shibuya pedestrian crossing. Above the crossing were many TV screens, all of which portrayed a video of Zoey in her Mew Mew form. After a few embarrassed stutters, her and the other Mew Mew let out a heroic spiel and made some cute poses for all of Tokyo to see.

"I guess that's all of them then…" I sighed.

Turning to go home, I felt my neck itch and again. I absentmindedly scratched at the itch all the way back to my apartment.

* * *

It was early morning and the school's bell chimed twice as I stepped into the club room. I slid my outdoor shoes into my cubby and walked towards my classroom. Many students past me in the hallway.

"Hey, Tsuki!" Zoey shouted from behind me.

"Oh, hey Zoey," I said, turning around with a smile.

"Sorry I haven't talked with you much. I've just been a little bit busy," Zoey explained.

"Hey Zoey, could I come to the cafe with you today? I've been dieing for some of Wesley's cake," I said.

Honestly, really wanted to get to the Cafe today. The new Mew Mew would be there and I needed to learn more about her. Actually, I needed to learn more about every one of them. So far I had made zero progress on the weakness thing, and I need to get something solid before presenting my findings to Deep Blue.

"Oh sure! I'd love to have you there!" She said walking up the stairs.

_Hehehe perfect. This is too easy._

It was a warm pleasant afternoon as I stepped into the park. The pink cafe loomed ahead and I quickly sped up my pace and entered the cute building. I finally spotted the new Mew Mew as I walked in and sat down at my usual table in the back near the windows. My human friend approached me with a smile and placed a glass of complementary water on my table.

"Hey, Zoey who's she? I've never seen her before," I asked, pointing to the girl in purple.

"Huh? Oh her. That's Renee Roberts. Famous Model. She just decided to lay low for a while and work here," Zoey said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, I see. Well you better get to work," I said, pushing Zoey towards the back room.

I whipped out my purple notebook as soon as the redhead's back was turned. Just as I wrote down the purple Mew Mew's name, I heard someone coming towards me. Quickly snapped, my notebook shut and turned around to face Bridget.

"Hello, Tsuki. Zoey wanted me to ask if you like something?" she asked with that sweet smile of hers.

"Umm, how about some jasmine tea for now?" I asked.

"Oh, of course. I'll be right back," Bridget replied, walking towards the kitchen.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Bridget slipped and knocked over an entire tray full of dishes. They clattered to the floor making all eyes turn to her. During the commotion, I sensed a familiar presence beckoning me. He was watching from outside. Quickly and quietly, I grabbed my bag and made my way inconspicuously out the door, taking the chance while Bridget had all the attention.

When I got outside, I went around to the back of the pink Cupcake café. I saw Dren floating there, and crossed my arms. Normally, he didn't appear like this and would surprise me in a more 'exciting' manner.

"I wondered when you'd notice," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah...What are you doing here anyways?" I asked.

"Oh, just watching Kitty-kat. That's all," he said.

"That's right… You really are in love with her. I thought it was just infatuation with the species when you followed her around…but now I understand why you've failed so much. You don't want to hurt her, you love your sworn enemy. How intriguing that you succumbed to such a weakness… I seriously doubt she has the same feelings! Hahahahahaha! What a laughing stock, Dren!" I shouted, falling backwards laughing at him.

But before I could hit the ground he grabbed my chin and held me up in mid-air. I coughed and gagged; his grip was extremely tight on my throat. I must have hit a nerve when joking around. But I was tired of his pathetic attempts. I was going to lead now and I wasn't going to let his love for a human get in the way.

"Now listen here. I may like her, but it's not messing up with my job of taking over this stupid planet. On the other hand, there's someone I know that is letting their human side get the best of them all while they make friends with the enemy and act like one of them! I haven't seen you fuse any predicties in a very long time...I don't think Deep Blue will be too happy about this now will he?" Dren glared, digging his nails into my chin.

My eyes burned with fiery hatred at this. How dare he accuse me of such things. I was studying them, infiltrating them. It was his job to fused predicites and wreak havoc.

"Grrr! I'm actually keeping track of what's happening and gaining their trust enough for them to let me destroy them from the inside! I've got lots of information on them that you or I could use later on in my notebooks here and at home! So why don't you go make out with your human girlfriend and leave me alone!" I growled, glaring back at him.

A smirk appeared on his face. He then threw me right into the Café wall. I hit my head hard and a scream escaped my lips. I slid down to the ground and looked up at him. My vision blurred and I felt extremely dizzy. Damn, Dren was an asshole.

"What's going on? We heard a scream," Zoey said as her and the rest of the Mew Mews came running towards me.

"Dren! Why do you keep picking on Tsuki?" Zoey shouted as she stood in front of me.

"Hehehe, I have my reasons. Now lets play a game shall we?" he said, pulling out an infusor and a spirit.

I lost track of what was happening after this point. My head hurt and my vision still wasn't doing so well. I blinked a few times to see that little pink puff ball that Zoey called a key chain, looking down at me.

"Blah!" it muttered, spiting out a small golden pendant at me.

"What do you want me to do with this?" I asked it.

"Mew Mew Transform!" It stated, floating up and down.

"What do you mean? I'm not a..." But then the words Lion Mewtamorphasis popped into my head. I could clear see them in my mind and I felt this inner compulsion to say them, to unleash some sort of power from within.

"Uh oh..."

_I'm a Mew Mew?! This can't be possible! But wait, I was with Zoey that afternoon she became a Mew Mew...That light...Aw Man! Deep Blue is going to kill me…_

I sighed and stood up. My cover would be blown if I didn't do this, and I only ha myself to blame for it. If I had been more careful that afternoon, maybe that light wouldn't have hit me. Looking at the battle before me, Zoey and the others were doing horribly against this predicite.

"I'll just help. I won't destroy it, I'll help," I muttered to myself.

And with that I kissed the pendant and shouted, "Lion Mewtamorphasis!"

I began to change and I could feel it. A shimmering silver light engulfed my small form. I appear in this light, nude and transforming, ears and a tail appeared, and then came an adorable outfit to match my fellow Mew Mews. When I had finished transforming and the silver lights went away, I looked down at my self. My outfit was similar to Zoey's except where hers was pink mine was silver and where hers was red mine was black. My once pretty blonde hair was now a gorgeous platinum colour.

"Oh my..." I said while examining my hair.

"Tsuki?!" Zoey shouted, looking at me.

I shrugged and smiled weakly. This was all very new to me, and I felt very weird dressed like this. The accompanying ears and tial also felt strange.

"Okay, Black Cherry Ribbon Baton!" I said as a long silver baton with black ribbons wrapped around it appeared in my hand.

_Geez, this is cheesy. But I mean I can just feel the power flowing through this thing. It's amazing! I guess, it functions rather simply…point and shoot?_

"Black Cherry Ribbon Baton full power!" I shouted, aiming it at the predicite.

I expected the predcite to be down for the count, not for me to actually destroy it. As the predicite disintegrated, my attack kept going and hit Dren. He clutched his side, which then began to bleed profusely, before glaring at me and disappearing.

_He's so gonna hate me for that...Stupid not knowing my own strength! But damn, this baton thing has a lot of power behind it…_

When I turned around I saw Zoey and the other Mew Mews staring at me. I felt conflicted now. What had I become all of the sudden? I just betrayed my people in less than two minutes! Tears began to fill my eyes and pour down my cheeks as my conflicted emotions overwhelmed my willpower. I quickly took off running, knowing that I had just started something that I couldn't finish. The Mew Mews called out after me, but I didn't respond.

I stopped running when I was deep inside a forest within the park. I fell to my knees and cried. They were not tears of pain nor sadness, but tears of frustration and anger. I screamed in self-loathing and warped myself to the green dimension.

I reappeared there, and instantly began looking for my comrade. I hoped I hadn't injured him too severely and that I would soon be forgiven. I didn't hate Dren, we were rivals and I took a joke too far. Then I hurt him for no good reason. This was my fault and I was worried that nothing could be done to fix it. I searched the ruins, his usual spot, and found Dren was sitting there resting.

"I'm so sorry...I never meant to do that, I swear! That stupid puff ball gave me the pendant and told me to transform...I was only trying not to blow my cover...but it shouldn't have been at your expense..." I stated, looking down in utter shame.

Silence filled the green dimension and my gut twisted in shame and despair. I didn't desere his words. I had betrayed my own people simply by transforming. I should've pushed back that urge, fought it harder…Or at the very least teleported away.

"I'm very sorry. Yell at me...scream at me...Do anything just please don't hate me..."

_Why am I telling him this? Could I possibly...like him? No no no! I don't like him! I can't like him! Rivals. Must be rivals…but I still care… Oh, why me? Why now?!_

Slowly, my pale green-haired comrade stood up and came towards me. Dren put his hands on my shoulders still not looking up once. I braced myself for what he might do. Though all I felt was that I was pushed backwards.

"Go make your report to Deep Blue. I've done it one too many times and it's your turn to give him the bad news," Dren said, still refusing to look at me.

I nodded and floated towards where the Master was waiting for a report. Dren wasn't going to talk to me for a while, and I knew he needed space. My report would take at least an hour, so I could only hope he would speak to me afterwards. I slipped away into the other room and knelt down before the glowing light that represented our leader on this mission.

"Tsuki?" he questioned as I floated into the teal coloured mist.

"Master, I have some bad news to tell you...you see I'm a Mew Mew..." I tried my hardest to explain it to him knowing that I would be in big trouble when I finished. I told him everything I knew about the Mew Mews, all that I had documented, and all that I had experienced as a Mew Mew. Standing before him in said form, I let him examine that shape so he had a better idea of what we were facing. By the time all was said and done, I felt better having explained it all. What my Master's decision came ot be was a huge shock.

"You'll be staying a Mew Mew and fight with them until you can condemn them. Though I suggest that you don't destroy any more predicites," Deep Blue said in a normal tone.

"Yes, of course. Thank you," I said in gratitude as I left the teal mist.

I came out into the green dimension again, still dressed as a Mew Mew and saw Dren floating upside down deep in thought. His wound seemed mostly healed and I sighed in relief. It would've killed me had I done any major damage. I wasn't truly evil on the inside. Hurting people wasn't generally in my nature.

"Are you okay? Does it still hurt?" I asked, placing my hand on his side.

I could feel him shiver when I did that. His eyes opened and he was slightly startled, but quickly shook it off.

"No, not really, Kitten," He said, backing away from me.

"Kitten? Why are you calling me kitten?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"You are a cat after all. I couldn't think of a better name for you. And besides you owe me," He said, lifting up my chin so we were eye to eye.

I smiled back, as warmly as I could muster at the moment, "Uh right...I can live with that."

"Oh, really? That's good to hear." he said wrapping an arm around my waist. Though what surprised me was that he wrapped the other arm around me as well bring me into an embrace. Dren had yet to be this intimate with me for any reason. I never pictured him as hugger.

"Now, no more trying to hurt each other okay?" he whispered.

I couldn't see his face, but I knew he was smirking. What was happening? Did Dren actually enjoy my company more than he let on? Or was he going to hate me again the next time I saw him? I was beginning to wonder whether he was bipolar.

"Y-yes." I answered, my face a tomato red.

And let me tell you, that's pretty hard to do for someone who's as white as a ghost.

"Well then you should get back down there. The Mew Mews are probably looking for you," Dren said pulling away from the hug.

"Right..." I said, patting Dren on the shoulder.

I waved quietly and warped back to the middle of the park. It was dusk, and the street lamps were lit, lighting the park with their yellow glow.I could hear Zoey calling out my name. They must have been looking for me. I walked towards her voice and ended up behind her. I placed a hand on her should and she jumped. Her ears and tail popping out as well.

"Zoey?" I asked.

"Tsuki! There you are, we were so worried!" she said, taking my hand and pulling me towards the Cafe.

"Oh, okay..." I answered as I was literally being dragged towards the Café. Once inside she sat me down at a table and called Elliot and Wesley.

"What is it, Zoey?" Westly asked.

"I found her!" she answered, jumping up and down.

Elliot sighed and came over to me. He looked me up and down, his blue eyes scanning over my silver Mew Mew body. It was strange, and I felt a little awkward being so closely examined by him. I could even feel his warm breath on my neck as he leaned over my shoulder to look down at my tail.

"She looks like a Mew Mew, but where's her mark?" Elliot said as he glanced back at Zoey.

"Ah...mark?" I asked.

"I'll show you mine and we'll find yours," Zoey said taking me into the back. Once there she lifted up her skirt to show me a little pink heart shaped mark on her thigh.

"Now let's find yours..." Zoey said as she looked at my left arm.

Se ad me transform back into my human body and then began her search. I looked at my right arm and then down at my hand, gesturing a tiny dark spot on my wrist. Shaking her head, Zoey continued to search. While she lifted various parts of my clothing in search of this mark, I began to scratch at my neck again.

"Hey, what's that on your neck?" Zoey asked, pointing to the itchy spot.

I removed my hand and Zoey used a mirror to show me a small pink infinity symbol on my neck. That's what had been itching all along, I'd had a Mew Mew mark.

"Yes, that's it! Okay, now we can go show Elliot and Wesley," Zoey said, pulling me out into the front again.

Both men had been patiently waiting in the other room, Elliot stood up immediately when he saw me, and I gestured to the symbol on my neck. The blonde haired man leaned in, and I felt him gently run his fingers over it. I shivered at his touch, and tried to contain myself. I was definitely attracted to him, but there was no way I could do anything about it. Especially since I'd already ragged on Dren for loving Zoey.

"Okay, we found her mark, now can she work here?" Zoey asked excitedly.

"Yes, Zoey, she can. Just come back tomorrow and we'll get you your uniform," Wesley said with a smile.

"Um, alright!" I answered, still a little caught up in everything.

"Come, I'll walk you home, Tsuki!" Zoey said, pulling me outside.

That's when Elliot rushed forward and grabbed Zoey by the arm. The redhead stopped immediately and looked back at her employer. He seemed indifferent again, but Zoey wore a worried expression.

"I'll walk her home, I think you should stay here and go over the menu with Wesley," the blonde man said, almost demandingly.

"Okay, well, have a good evening, Tsuki!" Zoey said, waving happily.

I smiled and sighed, "Thanks, Zoey. For you know...everything."

_Yeah, thanks. With your help the Cyniclons will have this planet in a matter of days._

"You're welcome! I love to help new friends, especially Mew Mews!"

"Yeah...That's me now... I'll see ya at school," I said, walking away with Elliot by my side.

"Bye!" she shouted, waving from the café doors.

Elliot and I walked in silence for most of the way home, but when the wind blew between us, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and held me close. My cheeks flushed and I tried to hold back my excitement. I hadn't been wearing much, a sleeveless top, and a short skirt with knee-high socks wasn't exactly the greatest attire for a chilly night.

"Um, thanks. I guess I should've worn a sweater."

"Don't mention it… So how are you, by the way? Still, dealing with that illness?" Elliot replied.

I shook my head, "No. I seem to have conquered it for now. But I'm really exhausted. Would it be okay if I rested for a couple days? I don't want it coming back."

Elliot looked down at me and smiled, the first smile I'd ever seen him wear. He looked very handsome when he did that.

"Of course. I leave you be until Wednesday, but I expect to see you at the café that afternoon."

I smiled back, and nodded happily. I could manage that. I would need to rest and recuperate before I could handle another Mew Mew transformation. I felt zapped of all my energy.

Within another minute or two, we arrived at the entrance to my apartment building. Leaving the warmth of Elliot's arms, I opened the door. Turning back to look at him, I waved and offered a sweet grin.

"Thank you for walking me home, and keeping me warm," I chuckled.

"No problem. I look forward to seeing you at the café!" Elliot called, waving back.

Closing the door, I shook my head and then walked up the stairs to my apartment. The halls were empty as it was quite late and most of the other tenants in this building were elderly.

"Oi...Not my best day..." I muttered, digging out my keys.

Just as I opened my door, I came face to face with my green-haired comrade, floating upside down in my kitchenette. I screeched in surprise, but he hushed me and pulled the door closed.

"Shh. Relax. No need to tell the whole world I'm here," Dren stated, flipping right-side up.

I sighed heavily and ran a hand through my light blonde hair. This was tiring. What did he want now? Could I have no peace?

"Why are you here, Dren? You could've blown my cover."

The pale alien smiled, and placed both hands upon my shoulders, "I'm here for a sleepover!"

My eyes bulged and I pushed him away. I was exhausted, and this seemed super forward, even for Dren.

"What? Don't you have a place in the green dimension to sleep?" I asked in an exasperated tone.

"Well, yeah… But it's soooo lonely there! I mean, I've been up there all alone since we got here. Can't I just have some company for one night? You owe me!" he asked, flashing me the puppy dog eyes.

_Damn, those amber orbs are hard to resist…_

I shrugged and nodded, too tired to argue with him. Besides, a little company might be nice for a change. My apartment did feel kind of empty.

"Yay! Oooh, I'll get the bed warmed up!" he squealed floating into my bedroom.

"You'll what? That's my bed!" I shouted, chasing him into my small bedroom.

The alien was already tucked into my light green sheets with my lavender comforter pulled up to his nose and snuggling with one of my two pillows.

"But where will I sleep?" he pouted.

I frowned. I had a single bed, it wasn't meant for two people. If we…cuddled, then it might work. But I didn't know if I really wanted to cuddle. We'd only just hugged to day, and that was a huge step for our relationship just as rivals. Either way though, the extend contact with another living being would be comforting after such a stressful day.

"Argh, alright. We can share… Just no funny business, okay?" I stated, snatching up my pajamas from the dresser and walking into the bathroom.

As I started to change, Dren shouted, "Aw, but that's the best part of sleepovers!"

I shook my head, then grabbed the bottle of lotion from the bathroom counter. I applied it to my mark as it was still itchy, then finished changing. When I was dressed in my fuzzy sheep pajama bottoms and my loose blue t-shirt, I shuffled sleepily back into the bedroom.

Dren pulled back the covers form the side of the bed closest to the wall so I could get in. I flicked the lights off and crawled into bed. It took some maneuvering, but both of us eventually found a comfortable position on our sides with him laying behind me. Dren nuzzle the top of my head, and sighed happily.

"You smell good…" he murmured in my ear.

"Thanks. It's a strawberry lotion. Promise you'll be gone by morning, right?" I replied.

"Yes, of course. Nighty night, Kitten…" he sighed, wrapping an arm around my waist.

I blushed a little, and closed my eyes. We weren't doing anything. Just sleeping. Eyes closed, clothes on. Nothing was happening. After a few moments, I felt Dren's slow warm breath on my neck and I slowly began to drift off into sleep.

_It's nice, having someone here… Even just for a night._

* * *

Two days later, Wednesday had arrived sooner than I expected. I had stayed home to catch up on old homework and the Mew Mews let me be, so I was a bit out of the loop. Hopefully today, as I started my first day of work, I could finally get up to speed.

I sat down in the school library to write in my purple notebook again. I had wanted to touch up my notes and mention all sorts of details about the girls, Elliot, Wesley, and the café, but had been too swamped with schoolwork. Today had been a normal day, except for Zoey hanging around me at every waking moment. I had finally lost her at kendo practice and came here. I reached into my bag and searching for my notebook.

"Huh? Where'd it go?!" I said, dumping everything out of my bag.

Pencils, paper, stickers, hair ties and candy all poured out on the old worn wooden table. Nothing was purple nor notebook shaped. I was in a lot of trouble. My most recent notebook had some extremely incriminating ramblings and descriptions.

"It's gone! AH!" I cried.

"SHHH!" the librarian said to me, putting down a spy novel she was reading.

"Yeah...Why don't you go suck on that damn book," I muttered, packing up my things and walking out of the library.

I walked up and down the halls of the school in search of my ever-important notebook. I checked my locker, all of my classes, the gym, the cafeteria, and even the bathroom.

"Where did I last have it?" I asked myself.

_I remember writing in it on Sunday. I made notes about Renee, her modeling career, her odd Americanized sense of style… Then Dren showed up and the whole Mew Mew ordeal…_

"The Cafe!" I shrieked.

Quickly, I ran outside to where Mark and the other boys were practicing kendo and grabbed Zoey. Wordlessly, I then began to drag my friend towards the park and our afterschool job.

"Why are we in such a rush?" Zoey asked.

"Well, um...I just wanted to get an early start on my new job!" I lied.

The gullible girl believed me and didn't struggle against my dragging. After five minutes, the glorious pink café came into sight. When I opened the doors, I was tackled by Kiki.

"Tsuki onee-chan!" she said, hugging me tightly.

"H-hi, Kiki..." I choked, gasping for air.

"Come on in! We're about to open!" Kiki stated, releasing me from her fatal hug and pulling me into the kitchen.

"Here, Wesley told me to give you this!" she said, handing me a uniform like hers except in black and white. Then, as quickly as she appeared, Kiki jumped out of the kitchen and back into the dinning hall.

"Okay..." I quickly changed and looked down at the outfit. It was similar to the outfit my Mew Mew form wore and was rather flattering.

"Not too bad. I can live with it."

I walked out into the side hallway, only to bump into Elliot. The blonde man stumbled but caught himself. When he noticed who it was he had bumped into he smirked.

"Ah-Gomenasai!"I said, stepping backwards.

I was looking at the ground waiting for him to say 'you should watch where you're going'. But he never said it. I glanced up to see him looking down at my outfit. I blushed instantly.

"You look really... nice in that," he stated, turning to walk away.

_Well, glad to have a male opinion, I guess._

I shook it off and began to look around for my notebook. I checked all the tables, including my own. Just as I was about to go around the back of the café, Wesley walked in carrying four big bags of groceries.

"Konnichiwa!" I said as he walked in.

"Konnichiwa, Tsuki-san. How are you?" Wesley asked.

"Fine. Hey, have you seen a purple notebook anywhere?" I asked.

The brown haired man gestured for me to follow him and we walked back into the kitchen. He placed the groceries down on the counter and then opened one of the drawers by the sink.

"Do you mean this?" Wesley said, holding up my notebook.

"**HAI**!" I shouted, jumping up and down.

"I found it outside after you took off. You should take better care of it," he said, handing it to me.

I hugged it tightly, praising my ancestors for this luck. Then turned back to Wesley. What happened if the book was open? What did he see?

"You didn't happen to read it...did you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"N-no. I would never read it without your permission!" Wesley stammered, holding up his hands in innocence.

"Good. See ya!" I said, walking out of the kitchen to start my first day at work.

People had started to shuffle in and a few tables were filing up. I walked over to a table in the corner with three high school girls and asked for their orders.

"Zoey, seems a little bummed today," Bridget whispered as she passed by carrying a tray.

"Hm?" I asked, looking over at Zoey.

"What I heard was that after that Dren tree poisoning thing, remember we had to kill the trees or the city would die, that her crush saw and knows she's a Mew Mew," Kiki said, balancing on her ball before she begun her act.

_City would die? What does she mean by that?_

I reached out and pulled the blonde child from her ball. She stumbled over and tilted her head to one side in confusion.

"Hey, Kiki."

"Yeah, what is it, onee-chan?"

"What do you mean by 'the city would die'?"

"Oh, well Dren poisoned five trees and they were..uh, what was it now... Oh, yeah! They replaced the city's O-oxygen with car-carbondi-dioxcide," Kiki said, trying to pronounce the gases.

"Oh, really?" I asked.

"Yeah! And if we didn't destroy the trees all at once they would make a huge explosion. Destroying the whole city!" she said with a smile.

"Uh huh..." I said, nodding.

_He's gonna die...I'll kill Dren the next time I see him. He didn't even mention this to me when he stayed over!_

I smiled, letting Kiki return to her act. I then turned back to the table I was helping, and finished recording their orders and passing out water.

Zoey moped for the rest of the day, which was one of the most tiring days of my life. And finally, when the day was done, we both sat down, nearly collapsing.

"Hey, is Zoey here?" Mark asked as he walked in.

Zoey quickly dove under a table, covering her head and telling us to keep quiet. I laughed and leaned back in my chair, too exhausted to care about her petty teenage issues.

"Zoey's playing a game! She doesn't want to be found!" Kiki said.

Zoey sighed and hung her head in embarrassment and Mark nodded in understanding.

"If she doesn't want to see me that's okay. Tell her I said hi," Mark said as he left.

"Game's over!" Kiki said as she knelt down by Zoey.

"Yeah...all over," she mumbled.

* * *

There was a big kendo match today and I had nothing better to do. Dren had been ignoring me every time I transformed and went into the green dimension, so I figured I should hang out human style today. So I slipped into my school uniform and ran out the door. When I got there, a bunch of girls were shouting, "MARK IS SO COOL!"

_Perky...Gah...I hate groupies._

I leaned against the wall and watched the match. Some how I wasn't amused. Okay, most teenage girls would love to watch guys hit each other with sticks, but me? No way. It just bores me more. Okay, I'm not actually human so I don't count. But still, I'm so used to this world. After a while I saw Zoey walk in, most likely to watch her crush battle it out from the corner of the room. They were still struggling to talk to one another, and I figured it had to do with Mark see her as a Mew Mew.

_He must view her as a monster… Or maybe that's just what Zoey believes he sees her as._

"I wondered when she'd come..." I said to myself, standing up and walking towards her.

But Mark got to her first and she ran. Both disappeared into the hallway and the was an audible sigh from the rest of the crowd when the star kendo player left the room.

"Hmm, this may be interesting," I muttered and quickly followed the two as they ran cross campus.

Mark finally caught up with her in the hall outside the math classroom. He talked to her, but she ran in the opposite direction. This time he didn't follow because...Some green slime pulled him into math class! Now ain't that a teenager's worst nightmare. Giant green slime and math class!

_Mental note stop watching human teenage sitcoms on TV..._

I saw Zoey run in for him, but then get thrown back out of the room. I figured it was a predicite holding him captive, and of course, Dren would be involved. He'd do anything to have Zoey to himself from what I had seen. Still, I had no clue what could've made that predicite. Maybe old Jell-O.

_Does he have detention with last weeks lunch in there?_

Zoey got up and transformed into her Mew Mew form and forced her way into the classroom. I then quickly ran after her, my pendant out so I could transform and 'appear' to be helping. I stopped at the door and looked in. There was Dren floating amongst some giant green slime, which was apparently choking Mark. Zoey was now also trapped in the slime as it had coiled it's way around her body. Dren was holding her by her chin, staring into her eyes. Their faces were centimeters apart.

He was about to kiss her.

* * *

**A/N:** _Yay, such a long chapter complete, and so much of Tsuki's story has already been told. She is now established as a Mew Mew. It feels good to have gotten to this point and I'm excited to write out some of the bigger battles and such with her included. I'm also having fun working on Tsuki and Elliot's relationship. I would seriously adore some feedback. So, even if you just have a few words to say, Please Review!_


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